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you you you you you you you you you hey man we will start our second service let's get our hymn books and turn to hymn number 248 let's sing the song now I belong to Jesus my soul now I belong to him now I belong to Jesus Jesus belongs to me now I belong to Jesus now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him now I belong to him Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me Jesus belongs to me We're asking all of these things in his name we pray. Amen. For our next song, let's turn to hymn number 47. Hymn number 47, let's sing a song. Let the sun shine against my heart. On the first, I remember the time when I first knew the table When the sunlight obsessed the blood in my heart all the sweetness the first look with Jesus so near me and the sunset deep open would never give up Let the sun shine again Let the stars move again to the embers of God in my heart Lord is here in the room and embrace me again Let the sun shine again in my heart Then I'll whisper the scriptures these folks knew me daily how they guided my steps and still did not pass and the cities of terror I've met with my people I've detected and told them my joys will come down Let the sun shine again Let the stars move again to the embers of God in my heart Lord is here in the room and embrace me again Let the sun shine again in my heart So I low-filled to walk in so we wished until then when we met this that our freedom bellowed with me was the food of the past I've met with the twirling of madness in the path of its members I've detected my joys Let the sun shine again Let the stars move again to the embers of God in my heart Lord is here in the room and embrace me again Let the sun shine again in my heart Lord I come down again for forgiveness and justice He said God, I am his and I am his Death and thy Spirit will be deep to lift me up to my heart Let the sun shine again Let the stars move again to the embers of God in my heart Lord is here in the room and embrace me again Let the sun shine again in my heart Alright, let's go through a couple things real quickly. Let's count up salvations from this past week. Did anybody have any salvations to report? Anybody? Nine? Okay. Anybody else? Three? Alright. Anybody else? I see baby's hands are up, but I don't know if I should count those or not. Alright, well, great work everybody. We will have so many here today. We'll probably make it a little bit shortened just for sake of time for the event. So let me just quickly run down to the Married Couple Sweetheart Banquet. Obviously, for the questions itself, it's for married couples that are here, but I will say that if you're single, you're welcome to stick around. I think a lot of them want to stick around and kind of see what takes place or whatever, but I will say this. Preeminence is given to the married couples, meaning as we have tables designed and we have food, it goes to married couples first, okay? We're not going to have, you know, non-married couples cutting the line, and this is meant to be the Married Couple Sweetheart Banquet. So we're letting you stay for the fun, but it's like it's the Married Couples event, okay? So they get the tables. They get the food and everything like that, all right? So the basic order is after so many, we'll come back. First, we're going to eat. Then we're going to quickly do the pictures. Then we're going to do the game, okay? And then however long people want to fellowship afterwards. And look, a lot of you are nervous right now. Here's the good news. 60% of marriages survived last year's Sweetheart Banquet. 60%. You got a 3-in-5 chance, all right? So anyways, we'll have our brother Marwan lead us in another song. Our next song is string playing number 48. Game number 48, I'll Be So Glad. We will be doing this two times. It's a short song, but it's a good song. Game number 48, I'll Be So Glad. I'll be so glad when day is gone. Everybody on the first ready, sing. I'll be so glad when day is gone. I'll be so glad when day is gone. There'll be no sorrow in the tomorrow. I'll be so glad when day is gone. On the second. I'll be so glad when day is gone. I'll be so glad when day is gone. There'll be no sorrow in the tomorrow. I'll be so glad when day is gone. For our scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of Hosea. The book of Hosea chapter 1, right after the book of Daniel. Hosea chapter 1, right after the book of Daniel. And as your custom, we'll be reading the entire chapter. Hosea chapter 1. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Hosea chapter 1, verse 1. The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea, the son of Beri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Ezekiel, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Biblim, which conceived and bare him a son. And the Lord said unto him, Call his name Jezreel, for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to see the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again and bare daughter, and God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loami, for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be at the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was set unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah, and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves to one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Bless the root of God's word, let us pray. We are going now with the New York State's human choice, and for the rest of the state, let's preach here on the 15th of the New York World's Day, and I pray that those who give us a good day for our Solemnity, and for also our fellowship later on. Do you see me pray? Amen. All right, we're here in the book of Hosea, and the name of the sermon is Lessons from Hosea on Love. Now, it's always difficult when you preach like themed sermons, like every year you have a Christmas sermon, every year you have like a New Year's, every year you have like an Easter and everything like that, but I do want to try like every, you know, February to have like a Valentine's Day love themed sermon. So I want to preach to you from the book of Hosea. Let me just say this, this is a bit of a unique story because this is a rare example where basically the guy is actually right, and then the woman is wrong, but it's pretty much never like that when it comes to marriage. There's usually problems on both sides whenever there's major problems in a marriage, and we're going to learn some lessons here from the book of Hosea. Now, I think this is a good book for us though because this is a marriage that starts off good if you pay close attention, it goes bad, but then it's a very good marriage after chapter 3, and we're going to see that in this sermon. So, you know, this is a sermon that could be helpful for all of us, okay? Now, I'm going to quickly just explain what's going on in Hosea because this is not the most complicated book, but if there's some things that you're confused about with the wording, it can kind of go over your head, okay? So I'm going to quickly go through this. There might be a lot of new information, so feel free to write stuff down, but Hosea 1, verse 1, the Bible reads, The word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of Biri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Jerash, king of Israel, the beginning of the Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea, Take unto thee a life of whoredoms and children of whoredoms, for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. And what he's going to describe is he's using an analogy with Hosea and his wife with the way he is with the children of Israel. The Bible says that, you know what, we are part of the bride of Christ as believers, right? And we're married unto God. Now, obviously don't take that symbolism too far, but that's the terminology that the Bible gives, okay? And what God's saying is this, when my people are my people at the beginning, very happy, dedicated, happy to leave Egypt, but then they just basically rebelled against me, but eventually the children of Israel will come back as we talk about during the end times, okay? And he's saying, I'm going to use your life as an example because that's what your life's going to be like. You're going to get married, you're going to be happy, but then your life is going to commit these sins and have children with other men. And that's what it's saying there with the children of Hordom. Verse number three, So it went into Gomer the daughter of Diblam, which conceived, and notice this, and bare him a son. It does not say bare a son, but it says bare him a son. The Bible's being very clear that this is Hosea's child. This is a marriage that when they start off, it's a good marriage, right? It says bare him a son. This is their child, they have a good marriage, okay? Verse number four, So basically Hosea has this child, they have a good marriage, but he says, in a little while though, basically I'm going to cause to cease the house of Israel. What he's using is the analogy with the marriage as with Israel, saying that when Israel first left Egypt, they were happy. It was good, they were excited, they were happy, everything was great, but then they started to depart, right? And what he's saying is it's going to be the same thing with your marriage because at first it's going to be great, but in a little while, it's going to actually go the other direction. But make no mistake, Jezreel is the son of Hosea. It's clear, bare him a son. Verse five, Notice it doesn't say she bare him a daughter, okay? Keep in mind, there are three children being born in this chapter. And remember it said children of Hordom. Children is plural, meaning at least two. Well there's no question that Jezreel is the child of Hosea because she bare him a son, indicating the second and third child are not the children of Hosea because it says children plural of Hordoms. Isn't it amazing how every word is so specific in the Bible for things to make sense? Bare him a son, children of Hordoms is very specific with singular, plural, things like that. And so she conceived again and bare a daughter and God said unto him, call her name L'ohama for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. God says I'm no longer going to have mercy, and remember he's using this analogy with Hosea's marriage saying that his wife had had a child with another guy and it's like that with the nation of Israel, right? Verse number seven, So keep in mind, it doesn't say she bare him a son, it says bare a son. Once again, the second and the third children are not his. Verse nine, Well it says he are not my people, it just says these children were not the children of Hosea. Okay, now go to Hosea 2. So we're moving very quickly. Well I'm trying to preach a whole book in one sermon. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just trying to give you a background so we can get to the application based of the story. Just because I know not everybody, if they asked you what's the book of Hosea about, a lot of people wouldn't necessarily know what the book of Hosea is about. So I'm trying to help you understand just the basics so we can make the applications to marriage that are being made in the book of Hosea. Hosea 2 verse 1, So notice, he says Ammi, which is L'ohama, L'ohama, but he doesn't mention Jezreel. Okay, well why? He says, He doesn't mention Jezreel because Jezreel is his child. Right, so he mentions L'ohama and L'ohama. Now let me just say this before we get into the application, that when it comes to marriage, there's generally failures on each side of marriage. I would say that, you know what, I am not a perfect husband, right? Sometimes people get this idea, and it's a bit of a foolish idea, but people get this idea that if you preach sermons, somehow magically you have no problems in your life. Like I'm just like a wonderful person. I'm not a perfect husband. I'm not a perfect husband. I'm not a perfect husband. I'm not a perfect husband. Like magically you have no problems in your life. Like I'm just like a walking picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wake up and it's like, man, I can't wait to memorize the Bible for three hours and read the Bible for three hours. I'm always patient and everything. That's not reality, right? Anyone who's married in this room would say, hey, you know what, there's been failures in our marriage from both sides, right? No question about that. Sometimes people say, well, me and my wife have never been in a fight. You're a liar, right? I've heard people say that, but I'm just like, okay, you're just a liar. And I know all men are liars, but that's just such a ridiculous lie that nobody's going to buy that, right? It's like marriage has disagreements. You say, why is that? Because you're around somebody 24-7 and you're both sinners. Of course there's going to be arguments. Of course there's going to be disagreements, especially because men and women are different. We're created differently. We think differently. A situation arises and a man thinks like this and a woman thinks like this, it can sometimes cause problems. It can sometimes cause friction. So it doesn't matter who you are in this room because we're going to look at failures of both men and women in this sermon, right? We're not just using the book of Hosea where this is actually an example. We're going to look at failures from both sides of marriage, okay? Anyone can apply this. And I would say that even if you're not married, you can still apply this for the future because the main thing I want to do is really drive home a difference between men and women. Men and women are not the same at all. In our modern day, they try to make men and women to be the same, same personality. They're not similar at all, right? There's a huge difference between men and women, right? I thought of this example recently that my life is one of five daughters, you know, the daughters of Zelophehad, just like in the Bible. No son, no brothers of hers, and her father, no sons, but just five daughters, right? And, you know, three of her sisters live right beside us, so sometimes they go out to eat or do things, and they always invite me. And I was saying, you know, I think my wife thinks that since they speak in Kapampong and I don't come because I don't know what's going on or whatever, but it's not because of that. It's because they're all women. I'm just being honest because I just don't have the things to talk about with them. We have different interests, different personalities. I mean, what am I going to talk about? I mean, there's just a difference. The first time I really, you know, met her father-in-law and spent time, he said, all right, let's just sit on the castle and watch Manny Pacquiao beat people up, right? Have you seen this fight? He said, what is it? That's the way men think. Men are fighters. I use the example when we got our daughter, a baby doll, and the first day, Zeph tore that thing to shreds. On the outside, I have to be, you know, Zeph, you shouldn't do that on the inside. That's my boy, right? You can be a fighter one day, right? There's a huge difference between men and women, and yet it's very difficult as a man to fully understand a woman, because I don't think like a woman. It's very hard for women to understand men, because women don't think like men. So what we need to do is go to the Word of God to find out, what does the Bible say about this? And quite honestly, society is wrong on a lot of things with men and women, especially in today's world, where they're trying to make men and women to be the same. The term given is, it's called metrosexual, to basically blur the gender so there are no genders. It's like either five million genders, or like no gender, or one gender. Just make everybody the same. I don't believe that. I believe there ought to be a difference between men and women. The way we dress, the way we look, right, the length of our hair, and all of these things, there should be a difference between men and women. So right, men and women are different. God created us differently, for a reason, with different rules and different functions and different personalities. Of course, there's exceptions to rules with how people think and everything. Obviously, there's eight billion plus people on this planet. People are different. But in general, there's a huge difference just being a man and a woman, right? What I would say is this. Point number one, we're looking at failure in marriage. And as I said, we're gonna look at the failures of husbands and men as well. But when it comes to this marriage, we see that Gomer obviously fails, right? She obviously messes up. She fails. But did you ever stop to ask yourself this question, why did Gomer cheat on Hosea, right? Was it because she loved another guy? Is that what the Bible says? No. She didn't love another guy. Was it for lust? She just found him really attractive and lusted after him. No. Was it for companionship? Well, no. The Bible actually gives us the answer in Hosea 2, verse five. For their mother hath prayed the harlot, and she that conceived them hath done shamefully. For she said, I will go after my lovers. Why? They gave me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink. The Bible's very clear in Hosea 2, verse five that the reason why she was with other men and had children with other men is not because she loved them, right? Not because of lust, but because of the fact they actually gave her things, right? Financial reasons. Go to Judges, chapter 16. Judges 16. As a guy, I don't understand this. What I understand is King David, who rusted after a woman and committed adultery. You say, why? Because if a man were to do that, it would be because of lust, right? What the Bible highlights is that for... And look, why would these men be with Hosea's wife? Because they're giving her all these things and spending all this money. Well, for them, it's lust. For his wife, it's financial things, right? Money, right? And this is not just one story that I'm going to give my interpretation. It's all throughout the Bible that the big thing that men struggle with is lust. And with women, the big thing is actually related to money, right? Now let me just say this, that it's very common for people to preach this about men. Everybody would make jokes, say, yeah, men really struggle with lust and things like that. I think a lot of people are just afraid to say what the Bible says in the other way. I'm not afraid. I already know that every woman of this church is going to hate my guts by the end of the day, and it's like, it's fine. I'm not here to be your friend. I'm not here to be your friend. I'm just preaching the word of God. We're just seeing what the Bible says, and you can interpret Hosea 2, verse 5 for yourself. For me, it's pretty clear if you just see what it says, right? Judges 16, I'll give you another example. Judges 16. Judges 16, verse 1. Then went Samson to Gaza and saw her in Harlot and went in unto her. Now what is Samson getting out of this relationship while he's lusting after her? The physical. To men, the physical is a very important thing. It's a sin that men really struggle with, right, that they've got to be very careful about. What's the woman getting out of it? Well, she's getting paid, right? Verse 2. This is a sort of sermon where every man is going to secretly say amen, but they're going to be afraid to say, like, publicly. I already know that. The same was yesterday. Verse 2. And it was told to Gaza saying, Samson has come hither, and they compassed him in and laid weight for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying in the morning, when in his day we shall kill him. And Samson laid till midnight and arose at midnight and took the doors of the gate of the city and the two posts and went away with them, far and all, and put them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Surak whose name was Delilah. Now sometimes in, like, movies or Bible stuff, they try to make Delilah out to be the harlot. That's not accurate, though. The harlot is a different woman, and in Delilah's afterwards, what are we seeing with Samson? Well, here's a man who loves God but really struggles with lust. Right? No question about it. Right? And what was the harlot getting out of it? I mean, money. Right? What about Delilah? You say, well, it seems like Delilah loves Samson. Well, notice what it says in verse five. In the words of the Philistines came upon her and said unto her, Entice him and see where in his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him, and will give thee, every one of us, eleven hundred pieces of silver. They say, hey, if you turn in your boyfriend, we'll give you all this money. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lie. And she's like, all right, it's worth it to me. It's not just the book of Hosea. Isn't that what we see in the book of Judges? I mean, am I just misinterpreting this? Because that's what we see in Hosea both from the male side and the female side. That's what we see from the book of Judges as well. Right? Now turn in your Bible to Job 31. Job 31. I preached a sermon a few months ago in Pampanga, and I didn't record it because, well, I'm sure some of the things I said would have been against certain political things and stuff like that. It wasn't the safest thing to post publicly or whatever. But I was talking about the newest sermon was Sin City Pampanga because I live in Anjali City, which most of Anjali City is fine, but it's known as Sin City in Pampanga because there is a section, you know, Fields Avenue, where there's lots of prostitutes. Right? And so it's known as Sin City, which, look, that's an embarrassment to Pampanga. Intermenta is an embarrassment to Metromanea. Right? With all kinds of prostitutes. It's an embarrassment. It's a shame to a location. But here's the thing. People look at that, and they say, man, these lust for and sin for men. And I would say, hey, man, that's right. It's terrible. But guess what? The women aren't innocent either. They're choosing to sin and choosing that career. And you say, right, they're doing it for money. Right? Why else does it exist? In this world, 80% of prostitutes are women. 80%. And the other 20%, the vast majority are homosexuals. And you say, well, why is it that this exists? Well, obviously, that exists because there's a market for it. There's lustful guys like Samson or Judah in the Bible that would do this. Why would the women do that? It doesn't really make sense to me, but it's for money. Right? I mean, it's all throughout the Bible. I mean, I'm giving you Bible stories. I mean, it fits with our secular world. Look, you're never going to see in your... I'll give you an example of the difference between men and women. Right? Men focus very much on looks. There's no question about that. The way it works with men when you're out of church like ours, or men or women, you know what? There's a very small market of people that you can marry because of the beliefs we have. Right? So you're at churches like this, and I've seen it a million times. People try to set up various guys or whatever. And they'll be like, you know, this girl, she's got a meek and quiet spirit. And he said, okay, great. Can I see a picture? Right? And it's like, she goes soul winning seven times a week. Okay, great. Can I see a picture? She knows how to cook and clean. Can I see a picture? And just on and on and on. Can I see a picture? Can I see a picture? Then the picture comes. It doesn't matter if she has everything under the sun. It's like, yeah, you know, I'm not interested. Right? You say, why is that? Because men focus a lot more than women do. It's a fact. You say, I don't know, Brother Stuckey, the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair. That's why they married them in Genesis 6. And in general, people would say, well, this is true. Men struggle with this. But then they're afraid to say what women struggle with. You know what? Actually, both men and women are sinners. Both men and women have failures and problems in their life. And this is what you see all throughout the Bible. There's a difference between men and women. Men focus very much on the physical and they're attracted to the person far more than women do. Now, I'm not saying that it isn't important to women. I'm just saying it's lower on the list. Solomon had a lot of wives. Why is that? He was physically lusting after them. Right? What do the women get out of that? Why would they want to be with a guy who has all the, because of money and power? The story about Sheba and David, what does David get out of it? I mean, it's really a scare. And I'll be honest. as a guy, we need to be very careful because David is a man after God's own heart. He sees a woman he's attracted to and boom, destroys his life in a matter of seconds. The Bible highlights this is a real problem with men. We've got to be careful about. Right? What did God's Sheba get out of that? I'm not saying she didn't find David attracted, but what was it exactly? Money and power. That is what you see highlighted in the Bible. Job 31. The Bible says that the man is attracted to the man Job 31. Job 31. Look, you're never going to see, you know, a 60-year-old woman in Ermita or in Fields Avenue in Anjale City with like a young Filipino guy and he's with her because she has all this money. As a guy, it's like she could have 55 billion dollars. If you're not attracted to her, you're not attracted to her, you're attracted to her, you're attracted to her, you're attracted to her, $65 billion. If you're not attracted, it's like no interest whatsoever. That's the way men operate, right? Guys are different than girls. It wouldn't matter how I mean and you see this in the world because you have athletes of this world that are rich and famous and then they're always married to supermodels. Always. Right, these rock stars, musicians, I mean some of these guys are like the ugliest guys in the world, but they're always married to supermodels. after them for looks? And why is it the women go after the men? Because of money and power and fame and things like that. Now look, I don't, obviously I do believe whether you're a man or a woman, you should be attracted to the person you marry. I'm not saying that means nothing. I'm not saying that, you know, I think you should be attracted to the person you marry, right, but guys put far more emphasis than they probably should on that. And with women, it can be the other way. Now here's the thing. Is being financially stable important? Yes, it is. But women can put too much emphasis on money, right? Job 31 verse one. Job 31 verse one. Job 31 verse one. I made a covenant with mine eyes, and we're looking at the failure here of men and their weakness in Job 31 verse one. I made a covenant with mine eyes. Why then should I think upon a mate? And Job said I made a covenant or an agreement, a contract with mine eyes, and he said I'm not gonna look at a woman that I'm not married to and lust after her. You say why is this? Because making a contract or making a covenant takes time and effort. And what Job's saying is I went to great effort to make this decision. I will not look upon a woman that I'm not married to. You say why? Because if you let it enter into your eyes, it can enter into your heart, it can enter into your actions. That's the way it works. Starts with the eyes and the ears, enters into the heart, enters into the actions. Here's the thing. Instead of trying to cut it off before the action, why not just cut it off before it reaches the eyes? And in 2022, this is a dangerous thing because you can just be on Facebook, on YouTube or whatever. There's a lot of weird stuff that pops up. There's some things we let our kids watch online, and I don't really understand the stuff that pops up in between like Cocomelon and some of the animated stuff because a lot of it's just like these perverted things that pop up, and it's like, but that's the world that we live in. Right, you gotta be very careful in 2022. And see, here's the thing. Verse number seven, if my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart wrapped after mine eyes. As I said, it enters the eyes, then it enters the heart, and then my step hath turned out of the way, the actions are following because he let it enter into his eyes. Go to Proverb seven. Proverb seven. Look, you're never gonna see a young Filipino guy in Ermita with an old American woman or old Australian woman because she's rich. It just doesn't happen because for men, it's just like they put far more emphasis on looks than money. It's a very important thing to them. But is it not true that you see it all the time in those locations of an old American, old European, old Australian or whatever with a very young, sometimes like 16-year-old girl or something like that? And it's like, what is the guy getting out of it? Well, everybody always says what the guy's getting out of it. I mean, he's lusting after them. Is the woman innocent though? No. I mean, sin is always wrong. And what she's getting out of it is she's hoping I can marry an American guy and have a lot of money, right? I mean, we can just cover our eyes and pretend this is not true, but this is reality. And it's not just me preaching my opinion here today. I mean, that's what we saw in Hosea, the judges, King David, Solomon, Genesis 6. I mean, how much Bible do you need? This is what the Bible says. Why is this important? As a guy, I need to be aware of what could be a big potential weakness so I don't commit that sin, right? As a woman, you need to be aware of what could be a big potential weakness because it can cause you to, but it's also good to know about the other person you're married to. As a guy, I don't think like women. I think like a guy, right? Women think like women. And look, it's hard as a guy to fully understand women. And look, women don't fully understand men. And you're never going to be able to, but what you can do is look at what the Bible says and look, that's why I'm not shy to preach what the Bible says, because actually it's there for our benefit and our learnings and our lesson. This is not a sermon that's anti-women because I'm criticizing Samson and King David and Solomon. Some people might try to take it that way, but I'm showing the weaknesses on both sides. There's failures on both sides, right? Some of the statistics I saw online were mind-boggling. In Cambodia, 80% of men have admitted to paying for sex before, 80%, four out of five. And in Thailand, it's 75%. So much for Buddhism being such a godly religion, right? The two most Buddhist countries, Cambodia's actually the most Buddhist country by percentage. Thailand's actually second. And they're also the biggest like fornicating, whoremongering countries based on those statistics. That's crazy to me. Not just 80% have fornicated, 80% have paid. That's crazy to me, right? Go to Proverbs 7, Proverbs 7, Proverbs chapter 7. And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youth a young man void of understanding, passing through the street near a corner, and he went the way to a house in the twilight in the evening in the black and dark night. And behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot and subtle of heart. Now, attire's like a makalumang word for like your clothing, what you're wearing, or your raiment. And what it says is, there's this man who meets this woman who's dressed like a harlot. Because obviously, if you go to these places like Ermita or Anhale City at Fields Avenue, Zambales, some of these places, obviously they're dressed a little bit differently than the average person's gonna dress, right? And it says that this man meets his woman who's dressed like this. She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house. Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth and wait at every corner. When it says she lieth and wait at every corner, it's not saying this specific woman is like Wonder Woman flying around to every corner. What it's saying is this kind of woman exists, okay? Verse 18, come, let us take her full of love until the morning. Let us source ourselves with love. Notice this, verse 19. For the good man is not at home, he is gone a long journey. So this is a woman that's either married or has a boyfriend, and yet she's going after another guy. You say, why is she doing this? For the sake of money. That's a big weakness for women that the Bible highlights. Now what is this guy getting out of it? Lust, right? It's just obvious what the Bible is showing us. Go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31, notice what it says here in verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman for a price as far above rubies? Now, there's symbolism being used about this virtuous woman like her price and her value being above rubies, but you can also make like an actual application because what it says in verse 11 is, the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her. Well, trust in her in what manner? So that he shall have no need of spoil. By taking the spoil from your enemies in a time of war. What it's saying is he trusts his wife not to spend all of their money. You say, why would the Bible specifically highlight that? Because that's something women struggle with. Right? I mean, women are more likely in general, are there exceptions? Yes, women are more likely to spend a lot of money on shopping stuff and waste money more so than men, right? It's a fact. And you say, brother, I can't believe you're saying this. Well, I can't believe I'm using the Bible to prove what I'm saying. It's like, you wanna get, you can get mad at me all you want but this is what the Bible says. And here's where it'd be hypocritical. It's like, yeah, I agree with that. Men really struggle with lust. Well, I mean, you'd be blind not to see the other side of all these things that are being mentioned. It's showing the weakness on both sides and instead of denying it, it's better to just say, okay, this is what the Bible says. I gotta be careful about this because this could be a big problem in my life, right? Turn your Bible to Hosea 2, Hosea 2, Hosea 2. So what applications can we make from that point, first point of failure? And let me just say this, failure can be on various levels and in every marriage, there's gonna be failure on both sides to some level degree. There's really no point in trying to make a comparison who has failed more. It doesn't really benefit at all, okay? But some recaps, understanding that with guys, the number one thing they struggle with, according to the Word of God, is they can easily lust in their flesh towards another woman like they should not, right? What the Bible's highlighting with women is money can be the big thing. So when it comes to a woman, what can you take away from this? Well, number one, in terms of your personal self, make sure your eye is not drawn towards money. Be content with the things that you have. Be okay with living a simple life. Maybe you don't have as nice of a house, nice of a car, things like other people have, you don't need as nice of restaurants. Honestly, it's okay. Be very careful not to let your heart get drawn away with money. Guys focus a lot on money, but honestly, the number one reason is because they're like, I gotta provide for my family, and they're also scared that their wives will spend all their money and not have any, right? That's reality, okay? And the Bible highlights that women can really struggle with money. But here's another application for women, and we'll get to that in a second. Because husbands really focus on the physical, I believe wives should really make it a point to try to keep themselves in shape. Now, I understand this gets difficult when you get older, but I want you to understand that the mindset of men and women are very different. Men focus very much on the physical. It's a fact, it's what the Bible says, it's reality, okay? Now, of course, the men should obviously keep themselves in shape as well. I'm not saying that's not true, but I'm just saying that's a big thing. Now, from what's the application for men? Well, number one, for ourselves personally, be very careful with your lust. Cut it off at the eyes, right? I mean, Job was a very godly person, and even he made a covenant with his eyes. Because you look at characters in the Bible, and there's some characters that are mentioned more, but with Job, he's about the greatest man who ever existed. Right, when he was alive, he was the greatest man, and he said, you know what, I'm wise enough to realize I could end up committing a big sin. I mean, King David will probably accomplish more than any of us in our lives, right? And yet, a man after God's own heart could just, in a matter of seconds, just completely destroy his life. You know what that tells me? Make sure you're very careful with the things you look at. There's a reason why Playboy and Maxim and those magazines that have a lot of money are a lot more popular than the other versions. You say, why? Because men lust, and they struggle with it. There's obviously a market for it. The Bible highlights that, but you have to be blind not to see that women also struggle with something as well. And with men, because your life's very much focused on the financial, men should very much strive to be financially stable in their marriages. Now look, the reality is, this kind of preaching is not something you hear when you're growing up, in general, it's not what I heard growing up, right? I think all of us, if we could go back in time and make a lot of changes and prepare, but honestly, people that are young in our room, people that are in their teens, or even below that, you that are men, you should strive to be able to provide for your families and work hard to do that, and prepare yourself for that day. And look, I'm not saying I did that when I was younger. When I was in college, I didn't take it that seriously. I said I gotta keep this level of GPA to keep my scholarships, and my GPA was like, just above. I'd show up for class for the test, and just make sure, it's like, all right, I'm just above the level to keep all my scholarships. Now I think that's the first thing to do. But I'm just saying, that's reality. I mean, it's just, you know, didn't take it as seriously. But here's the thing, if I heard the preaching at a young age, you gotta provide for your family one day, you better believe I would've taken it very seriously. Because I had the mentality, I'll just get out, just get my degree, and then just get my job, and it's like, well, you would take it more serious if you realized, actually, this is a very important thing the Bible stresses, right? Turn in the Bible to Hosea chapter two. Number one is failure. And look, in every marriage, there is failure, to some level of degree. Both sides have failed or done wrong. Anyone can take something out of this sermon if you're willing to just embrace what the Bible says. There is failure when it comes to marriage. And look, there are obviously exceptions to the things that I'm saying, but the Bible definitely draws a big contrast between men and women, and it highlights these things. And if you wanna actually learn from the Word of God and be able to apply it to your lives, you can't deny what the Bible says and what it shows us. Right? Number two, failures result in fights, right? The reason why we have fights in marriage is because of failure. That's what happens. It could be as simple as, you know, I lost my temper because I need to have a better attitude and things like that. But all fights start because of failure. Failure leads to fights. Obviously, in the book of Hosea, Hosea and his wife are fighting. No question about it. Hosea 2, verse 14. Notice this. Therefore, behold, I will allure her. Now, what does it mean to allure? Well, it means to basically powerfully attract or charm. The next words will help them make more sense, and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably onto her. And when a saying allure her, it says speak comfortably on her. Here's an example where it's actually the wife's fault in this fight, but Hosea does not yell at her. You know what he does? He speaks comfortably onto her. You say, why? Well, if you're in a fight, and I'm not talking about a boxing fight. If I'm in a boxing fight, my goal is to knock that person unconscious, okay? But I'm saying if you're in like a fight in your marriage, like an argument and a disagreement, well, what is your goal? Is your goal to win that argument? Or is your goal to resolve the conflict to have a better marriage, right? What should be your goal? Because the reality is we're all sinners, and many times you get into an argument with your spouse, and you're just trying to win the argument. It's a wrong thing to do. It's a stupid thing to do. Does not help your marriage. Whether you win that fight or not, it's not gonna improve it, right? But that's a common thing that we do, because we're sinners. What should you do, though? Well, speak comfortably onto that person. Look, I can say that there's times in my marriage that I'm just not in a good mood, right? I don't get enough sleep. I have a bad attitude or whatever, and I'm just super rude to my wife, right? Now, what's the smart thing to do in that situation? Well, the smart thing is just speak comfortably onto that person, and what happens 30 minutes later? I'm sorry I've been rude today. Isn't that what takes place? If you actually respond in a smart way, in a wise way and comfortably, a soft answer turneth away breath. That's what the Bible says. Speak comfortably onto that person. Look, in fights, in marriage, sometimes it's more the wife's fault, sometimes it's more the man's fault. Either way, though, if your wife is wrong, speak comfortably onto her, and you know what? She'll actually be really sorry for what was happened, and the same vice versa. Verse 15, and I will give her her vineyards from thence, and look, some of this terminology, you have to realize, he's using the terminology with the nation of Israel, like bring her into the wilderness, so there's applications we can make, because you can apply it to marriage, but it's also speaking towards Israel, and I'll give her her vineyards from thence, and notice this, and the value of acre for a door of hope. You know, sometimes in marriage, when there's fights, and one side is wrong, and they know they're wrong, all they want is a door of hope, just to restore things. Just a second chance, right? That's what they want. They want you to speak comfortably onto them, give them that door of hope, and notice this, and she shall, she, and she shall sing there, it's a tongue twister, she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. What I'm saying is, when the nation of Israel first left Egypt, they were happy. They're tired of being in bondage. They were thankful, I mean, they literally were singing. Didn't Moses write a song? They literally were singing. And look, when you first got married, you were happy. You were joyful. You're excited, you're singing, you're in a good mood, right? And sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes failures happen. Sometimes fights happen, and you lose that excitement of when you first got married, and you forget about it. And what the Bible's saying is, you know what, there is a way to sing as you did when you first got married, that door of hope. Go to 2 Samuel 6, 2 Samuel 6. Now look, I'm not saying this is an easy thing to do. Our natural reaction if you get into an argument with someone is, you want to win that argument, right? That's the natural reaction in marriage as well. It's not like it comes easy when you get into an argument. Nobody likes to lose, right? Where we're starting the series on principles on competition next week, nobody likes to lose, right? Everybody likes to win, right? And when you get into an argument with your spouse, it's like, I want to win that battle. But it's actually known as, it's called a Pyrrhic victory. And what a Pyrrhic victory is, it's pronounced, or it's spelled P-Y-H-R-R-I-C, I think. It's named after this general named Pyrrhus. And it was this battle between Rome and Greece from like 2,500 years ago. And if you know your history, basically the Grecian Empire and Alexander the Great, this is kind of next week's sermon, but took over for Persia. But then Rome took over for Greece. And so basically this ruler was fighting this battle, he was the general, and basically it's called a Pyrrhic victory when you win the battle but lose the war. So basically he's like, I'm in this battle, I don't want to lose this battle, and they weren't doing very well, so they just put in all of the money, resources, and everything into that battle, it caused them to lose the war, right? And see what I'm saying is this, in marriage, if you win an argument with your spouse, it is a Pyrrhic victory, meaning, doesn't cause you to win the war symbolically saying having a better marriage. Because that's the end goal. The end goal is not this battle, I mean the end goal is to have a good marriage. And if you're married, you want to have a good marriage. Winning that battle is a Pyrrhic victory. You can win that battle and make them look bad and look how good I am and I'm more spiritual and better. That doesn't help you have a good marriage. Second Samuel 6, verse 20. Let's look at a Pyrrhic victory in the Bible, right? King David, a man after God's own heart, okay? Let's look at his Pyrrhic victory. Second Samuel 6, verse 20. Then David returned to bless his household and Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, how glorious was the king of Israel today who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered himself. Now, in this story, David is already married to multiple women and look, one basic principle, if you get nothing from this sermon, don't marry multiple people, okay? David's married to multiple women, so of course that's gonna cause problems in their marriage, right? And even his wife was married to another guy after that and then they come back together. I mean, it's a messed up situation, right? And then it says, and so basically in verse 20, she's basically criticizing David and saying, look at you uncovering yourself. I don't actually think David's doing anything wrong in verse 20, obviously being married to multiple people is obviously wrong, though. Verse 21, and David said unto Michael, it was before the Lord. So here's an example, David's wife is very angry. The smart response would be, a soft answer turneth away wrath. The smart response would be, try to resolve this conflict. The natural response is, let's go to war. You wanna start this fight, okay, you know, we'll go to war. He says, it was before the Lord, notice this, which chose me before thy father. Who's the father of Michael? Saul? I mean, what's the story of Saul in the Bible? Well, Saul was trying to kill David because he was mad David would take over the throne and he had been rejected. Saul's dead. Saul's saved, I mean, he's up in heaven, but Saul's passed, I mean, what a rude statement to make, right, and it's like, well, guess what? I'm better than your dad, right? I was chosen above and which is implying also that her dad is dead, I mean, he was chosen above, Saul got replaced, very rude comment to make. Is he trying to resolve this fight? No, he's trying to win this fight. And it says, which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel, therefore I play before the Lord. Now here's the thing, generally when you have fights, it's like you don't just wanna equal them, it's like when you landed a shot, I'm gonna equal that shot and I'm gonna go above you, right? I'm gonna get above you, you are this rude to me, I'm gonna reach this level, and it just gets worse and worse, and it's not just in relation to marriage, it would be the same way with anything, just an argument with someone else. Or even a physical fight, I mean, if somebody on the street just gives you a light punch to the face, you're probably gonna knock him out. It's like, you gave me a light jab, I'm gonna give you an uppercut, right? Then it says in verse 22, and here's his uppercut in verse 22, and I will yet be more vile than thus. Now keep in mind, why are they fighting? Well, they're basically fighting because David's married to multiple women, right? He says, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be based on mine own sight, and of the married servants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. So he's basically just rubbing it in, what he's doing, and it says, I will be more vile than thus, saying, you know what, you are this rude to me, I'm gonna reach this level. What's this called? It's called a pyrrhic victory. You say, what's the problem with winning an argument in a marriage? Verse 23, therefore Michael the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. Why didn't she have any children? Well, you can't have children if you're not together as husband and wife anymore. This is the end of their marriage. That's what we see in 2 Samuel 6. Why, because it says therefore she didn't have children. It doesn't just state she didn't have children, therefore, because of what? Because of this big fight. This is the end of their marriage. And you look throughout the Bible, Michael never had any kids. Now, she was the aunt that raised kids of somebody else. She did not have physically her own children, and this is the end of their marriage. Go to Song of Solomon 8, Song of Solomon 8. See, failures happen in marriage for various reasons. And what happens when you have failure? It leads to fights. The best response in a fight is to try to resolve it. Turn the other cheek. Is that the common response? Is that the natural response? No. Right? I'm not standing up here saying, hey, you know what, I just have a perfect marriage and I don't struggle. No, you know, my wife and I, we've had failures in our marriage, we've had fights. And look, sometimes the pyrrhic victories, that's our natural response. I'm just saying it's the fullest thing to do because it doesn't make your marriage better. It just makes it worse. Eventually, at the end of the day, it gets worse and worse and worse. One of the sides has to just decide, hey, I'm sorry. And just turn the other cheek and let things pass. Song of Solomon eight, verse seven. Song of Solomon eight, verse seven. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be content. Now, this verse was on the front of our bulletin and it's very common at weddings when they give wedding invitations, this is the verse they use. I think at our wedding, that's what we use. Song of Solomon eight, verse seven. Many waters cannot quench love, it's a very famous verse. But verse six is not always used as much as Song of Solomon eight, verse seven. Song of Solomon eight, verse six. Notice what the Bible says. Send me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm. Notice this, for love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are coals of fire which hath the most vehement flame. Now, sometimes people get confused with the Song of Solomon. I really like the Song of Solomon. There's a lot of great wisdom in here. But what does it mean love is strong as death? Jealousy is cruel as the grave. Okay, well, I want you to keep in mind that word jealous that's mentioned in Song of Solomon eight, verse six. And what we're gonna do is compare spiritual with spiritual. Go to Proverbs six, Proverbs six. Proverbs six. Because many waters cannot quench love sounds a little bit more romantic than love is strong as death. Jealousy is cruel as the grave, right? What is the Bible trying to tell us here? Well, let me help you out with two words. There's a word jealousy or jealous and there's a word envy or envious. The problem with this is in our modern day, people don't use the word envy. They always use the word jealousy but these are very different words. The Bible says our God is a jealous God. And what it means by being a jealous God is he demands that we worship him and not some false God. Why? Because we belong to him. See, jealousy is when basically you're very possessive about something that belongs to you. You say, what's envious? Well, being envious is like, I wish I had that person's house. Now, here's the thing. If somebody steals something from me, by the way, if you run away with my cell phone, I'm gonna be very mad. I'm gonna come after you because I'm jealous over my cell phone. It belongs to me, right? Just an example I have in my pocket, okay? I don't really care that much. But anyways, what I'm saying is this, it's because it belongs to me, right? That's jealousy. That's not envy. Envy is when it belongs to somebody else. So if somebody steals your cell phone, honestly, I don't really care that much. I care a lot more about my cell phone because it's mine. If I see somebody stealing something from my house, you know, I'm gonna go after them, right? I'm gonna try to get that back, right? Jealousy is when it belongs to you. Envy is when it belongs to somebody else. The Bible says love as strong as death, and of course, this is being linked with marriage, and it says jealousy as cruel as the grave. Here's the thing, when you get married, you become one flesh. And if you're a man in this room, you belong to your wife. If you're a wife in this room, you belong to your husband. See, people have this idea in the modern day, they're like, you know what, it's bad to be jealous in marriage. You know, it's a bad thing. You shouldn't be jealous of your spouse. They try to criticize these jealous men or whatever. Jealous is not a bad thing in the Bible. Last I checked, God is a jealous God. You say, wait a second, are you a jealous husband? Yes. Of course I'm a jealous husband. As a guy, I would not be okay with my wife being friends with another guy. Not gonna happen. So why? I'm a jealous guy. I'm a jealous husband. And as I said, the example I used earlier, men and women are just different, so I don't see any reason to be friends, close friends with a woman. I don't think like a woman. I think like a guy. There's things we talk about, and it's like we can relate to one another. Right, I talk about examples of fighting a lot of times, and women are like, why does he always talk about fighting? It's like, because I'm a guy. Right, and guys are like, yeah, you know what, that makes sense to me, right? Guys and girls are different. And look, as a guy, you know what, I am a jealous husband. I wouldn't want my wife to be with another guy, you know, hanging out or friends or whatever, and look, my wife feels the same way about me, right? And look, people think this is extreme preaching, but this prevents major problems from happening. As a guy who's married, you should be friends with other guys. Unless it's a family member, like a sister, or your mom, or a cousin, or something like that. I mean, your friends should be other men. I'm not saying that you can't say hello or whatever, or shake hands at church. I mean, obviously you can take that too far, right? It's not like we have men's side and women's side, right? Some churches do that or whatever. I'm not saying that extreme or whatever like that, but I'm just saying that as a guy, I'm gonna be friends with other guys. And as ladies, you should be friends with other ladies. Obviously, there's just things that you relate to. I mean, look, ladies will often talk about raising kids and all these things, being a mom, like, I don't know anything about that. But I'm a guy, I'm different, right? There's nothing wrong with being jealous. What is the Bible saying, love is strong as death? Well, what does it say in Proverbs 6, verse 34? Because remember, we're talking about this, we're talking about Hosea and Gomer, and what we see is a major failure in this specific example of the wife failing on her husband, right? What does it say in Proverbs 6, verse 34? For jealousy is the rage of a man, therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou giveth many gifts. Now, what does it mean by the day of vengeance? Well, day of vengeance is like when you're basically getting retribution or whatever, oftentimes it's linked with death and everything. What it's saying in jealousy is the rage of a man, it's giving you an example in these verses that a guy is very jealous over his wife, and being a jealous guy, if his wife was with another guy, he would probably want to kill that guy. And it says, you know what, he will not spare in the day of vengeance. And it says he will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though thou giveth many gifts. I mean, that guy could say, hey, I'll give you all the money in the world, forgive me and everything, it's like he's not gonna spare in the day of vengeance. Now, I'm not saying this is the right response because I don't think killing someone would be the right thing. I'm just saying that is the natural reaction of a guy. Jealousy is the rage of a man. Right, when men get angry, they get out of control angry. Isn't that true? When men get angry, they get really, really out of control with rage. That's reality, right? And he will not spare in the day of vengeance. Now, go to Hosea chapter three, Hosea three. Hosea three, Hosea three. Look, as I said at the beginning, this is a marriage that ends up being a good marriage after the problems, and we see that. And see, we looked at, you know, basically the reprove, rebuke, exhort, right? We have the failure in marriage, right? We see the failure with Hosea and Gomer, and failure can be many things between husband and wife in various ways, and we see major fights in their marriage. But lastly of all, you got the happy ending. You got the forgiveness. Failure leads to fights, and hopefully in our marriages, we have forgiveness with the person we're married to. At the end of the day, regardless of what has happened, you know what the Bible says? When you get married, for better or worse, for sickness or health, till death do us part. This is what the Bible says. You ought to stay married to the person that you're married to. So the Bible says you ought to stay with them. And how does that happen? It happens with forgiveness. Hosea three, verse one. Then said the Lord unto me, go yet, love a woman beloved of her friends, yet an adulteress. Now, what we're seeing here in Hosea chapter three is God is basically talking to Hosea, and he's like, you know what, I want you to go after your wife. Why is it that he has to command him to go after his wife? Because he doesn't want to. He's mad. He's angry. And God says, no, I want you to go after this woman. Then he says this, according to the love of the Lord to the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love Flagon's wife. And Hosea's miserable, and you know what, what God says to him, he's like, you know what, I know what you're feeling. See, sometimes we look at God and we just think of him as like a force or something with no feelings. That's not actually what the Bible says. The Bible says God's a jealous God. The Bible talks about God loving us. I mean, God's saying, you know what, this is the way that I feel and I felt when I see the children of Israel departing from me. It's like, I'm mad. I'm angry. But here's the thing, I want them to return. That's what he's saying. And he's saying, Hosea, I know you don't feel like this right now, but you know what, I want you to go after that woman and love her. See, throughout the Bible, love is linked with action. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying because I didn't really have a large problem of saying loving someone in terms of being married is you're making decisions. Like, you're actually just deciding I'm gonna do this and put my action and energy and time into this. Of course, I think you should be attracted to the person and enjoy spending time. I don't want to disregard the feelings, but I would say the major emphasis is the actions. And what he's saying to Hosea is this, hey, you know what, this is a woman that you loved and you had a great marriage and you're like, right now, you're not very happy. What I want you to do is go after this woman. Verse number two. And see, here's the thing. Why is it God has to command Hosea? Because Hosea doesn't want to forgive. He's mad, right? Verse two. So I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver and for a home of barley and a half home of barley. So what is going on in verse number two? Well, you know, basically in this story, and the Bible doesn't give us all the exact details of specifics, but basically it reads to me like he's buying her at like a servant's auction. Right, you think of an auction where they're selling off stuff. People do that online and stuff like that. They get bidders. And basically, his wife is basically, she left her husband for the sake of money and it didn't work out. It ended up risking before, and then all of a sudden, he goes after her and he sees her and she's being sold like a servant. Like an embarrassment. Well, basically, she's out, she has nothing, and then God says, I want you to go after this woman, and then he finds her, and then her life is just miserable. It's not working out. And he buys her for 15 pieces of silver. And I say unto her, thou shalt abide for me many days, thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man, so will I also be for thee. And what, what, what, Hosea says, you know what? I don't care what's happened. We're gonna have complete forgiveness, and you know what, I wanna start over. You belong to me, I belong to you. You say, what is that? It's called forgiveness. I'm not saying this sort of thing is easy, because, you know what, it's hard to forgive your spouse, even like in a small fight, you know, much less, because you have to remember the story. This is very unique, because it's not just that Goma was with other guys, but she had children with other guys. You see, every single day, I get a reminder that my daughter is my daughter, and my son's my son. You say, why? Because I look at them, and it's like, I can tell that's my son. I can certainly tell that's my daughter, especially when her hair is shorter, right? It's like, I look at my kids, and I get that reminder every day. It's like, you know, that's my boy. That's my girl. I can see it in them. And look, if you have kids in this room, then you can say that. You look at your kids, you recognize your kids. Hosea got a daily reminder, those kids aren't mine, right? That's a hard thing to forget, because you're seeing it every day. It's literally impossible to forget, because every day, lo Ami and lo Ruhama, he's getting that reminder, I don't see myself in them, because as God told me, these are not my children, right? This would be a very hard thing to forgive, but you know what? God says, you know what? I want you to go after and forgive them. See, sometimes we look at characters in the Bible, like Hosea, or prophets, or preachers. We almost think of them like they're superhuman, as if they're not really people. They don't have emotions. They can do anything. Hosea's a man just like anybody else. I'm sure jealousy is the rage of a man. That verse applies to every guy, and it would apply to Hosea. I mean, this is the way he felt. He was angry, right? He did not want to forgive his wife, but he ended up going after. It's similar to Joseph in the book of Genesis. When you read Genesis, Joseph did not want to forgive his brothers. He does forgive his brothers, but look, I didn't believe that God was testing his brothers, but Joseph didn't come up with an elaborate plan. I'm going to forgive him. I just want to test him. No, no, when you read carefully, he wants to keep Benjamin, who is his actual full 100% brother, and just kind of kick the rest to the curb. Until they're basically pleading for mercy, and it's like, well, I can't really blame Joseph. I mean, they sold him into slavery. No, I don't believe Joseph handled it correctly because he's being dishonest and lying. He handled it a lot better than probably I would, but what I'm saying is these people are not superhuman. They are sinners just like all the rest of us. You know, they're characters like Elijah, and you read 1 Kings 18, and it's like, wow. Then all of a sudden Jezebel threatens his life, and he's like, you know what, I just want to die. Right, he just changes immediately. You say, why, because you know what, they're sinners, and people are just like we are, right? Verse four, he said, well, how do you know that they had a good marriage after this? Well, verse four, for the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without terephim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord in his goodness in the latter days. Well, the Bible shows you if you look at the last nine chapters or whatever of Hosea, after chapter three, I think there's 14 chapters, there's no indication they had any marriage problems after that. The indication is from Hosea chapter three, go after this woman, and you know what, it's gonna be as it used to be. The door of hope, singing as in the days when you first got married, and you know, the good news for all of us is regardless of what's happened in our lives, we can go back to that happiness we once felt. Go to Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians four. Look, you can't change failures that are in the past. The past is the past, and it can't be changed. Now, of course, we're all gonna fail in marriage to some level of degree, but what I'm saying is failures have happened, and you know what, fights have happened as a result of the failure. Whenever there's failure, there's gonna be fights. But what you can make the decision on is, are you gonna have the forgiveness? That is what's completely up to us. Now, here's the thing, I'm not saying this is easy. Look, when my wife and I get in arguments, I, you know what, I don't wanna win that fight. I don't win that argument, right? Sometimes, yeah, I win Pyrrhic victories or try to win Pyrrhic victories. I just wanna argue because I feel justified or whatever. It doesn't fix anything. It doesn't solve anything, right? An angry answer does not turn away wrath, right? A soft answer turn away wrath, and what's that called? It's called forgiveness, right? You have the failure, you have the fights. What we need to have is forgiveness. You say, well, why, brother, second, why should I forgive? I'm mad, I'm angry. Notice what it says in Ephesians four, verse 32. Ephesians four, verse 32. And it says, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Now, let me ask you this question. Do we deserve forgiveness from God? No, and the Bible says, as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you, the indication is that, hey, you know what, sometimes people do you wrong and they don't deserve your forgiveness. God says, you know what, I forgive you all the time and you don't deserve my, and you don't deserve my forgiveness. Sometimes your spouse is gonna do something that's wrong and maybe they don't deserve to be forgiven, but the Bible says, as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. We ought to forgive in the same way that God forgives us, meaning that we do not deserve it. You know what, when God forgives, he forgives and he forgets. That's what we see in the Bible. Now, look, I'm not saying this is an easy thing, but I mean, sermons always sound great. You're like, wow, it really makes a lot of sense. Man, I can fix all my problems. It's like, but then when you actually apply it, it's like, wow, this is a lot more difficult, right? Some of you after the Sweetheart Banquet today, you're gonna go home and the failure took place during the questions, the fight's gonna take place at home, and then we're gonna see what happens, right? You get to apply this sermon, right? I'm not saying it's an easy thing to do, but one thing I think you should do, and I'm gonna preach a sermon on it soon, is in the Bible, there's actually biblical reset buttons, and what I mean by that is kinda like we have a daily reset with God. We can say, I'm sorry, his mercies are new every morning. Kinda make this time of year, we have a Sweetheart Banquet every year, kind of like your reset button. What I mean by that is basically, hey, look at your life over the last 12 months, and what did I do wrong, what could I change, and basically give yourself and the other person in your marriage, it's the reset button. We're gonna start over from this point, regardless of what's taking place. You say, why would you do that? Because your goal is to have a good marriage. If your goal is to win the argument and be miserable and bitter, you know what? You're just gonna have a miserable life, and I'm not saying this is easy, right? I mean, your husband missed every question about you at the Sweetheart Banquet. He doesn't know anything about me, right? He said I'm a vegetarian, I love meat, what is he talking about? Right? But you have to be willing to forgive. You say, why would you do that? Well, you do that because you wanna have a good marriage. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see your word on this topic and ask you to help all of us in this room, including myself and my wife, to apply this to our lives, help us just to improve our marriages, regardless of what failures have taken place or what fights God, help us be able to forgive God and improve in the next 12 months. God, we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, for that song, let's sing the song, Meet Me There, hymn number 49. Hymn number 49, let's sing the song, Meet Me There. Hymn number 49, let's sing the song, Meet Me There. Hymn number 49, let's sing the song, Meet Me There. Meet me there, meet me there, meet me there, where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there, where the storms of life are on, on the happy golden shore, where the faithful part no more, meet me there once again. Here our fathers' throats are baying, here a swing's our end in plain, but it have no trouble baying, meet me there, by the river's barking bright in the city of the light, where our faith has inside, meet me there, meet me there, meet me there, where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there, when the storms of life are on, on the happy golden shore, where the faithful part no more, meet me there on last, where the hearts of angels ring, and the blessed forever sing, in the palace of the king, meet me there, where in sweet communion land, heart with heart and friend with friend, in a world of tears all end, meet me there, everybody in the chorus, meet me there, meet me there, where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there, when the storms of life are on, on the happy golden shore, where the faithful part no more, meet me there. Amen. Amen.