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["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good morning, we're in Hosea chapter number one this morning, Hosea chapter one, the Bible reads, the word of the Lord that came unto Hosea the son of B.R.I. in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash king of Israel, the beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea. 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 Dibleyim, 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 cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass it that day, that I'll break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again and bare a 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'll 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 her son. Then said God, call his name Loami, for ye are not my people, and that will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as 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 shall it 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 one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Let's pray to the Lord God, thank you for this church and for our pastor. Please just be with them now, along with your whole spirit. I hope to preach your word of boldness and help us to be edified, and in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay we're in Hosea chapter number one, and the title of my sermon this morning is A Wife of Hordoms, A Wife of Hordoms, taken straight from verse number two that says, The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of hordoms and children of hordoms, for the land hath committed great horedom, departing from the Lord. Now the book of Hosea is a very unique book amongst the minor prophets because of its metaphorical usage of this phrase, hordom, what we would essentially use today as being prostitute, right? Prostitution is what it's referring to here, and you know here we have this really unique case where the Lord is commanding his prophet to marry a literal prostitute because of the fact that he wants to illustrate how he views the nation of Israel in light of their inordinate idolatry, and so he compares them to a prostitute, to a whore, and he talks about their hordom throughout the book of Hosea. Now here in the book itself, the first three chapters are only dedicated to the relationship between Hosea and his wife Gomer. Chapters four through fourteen really give the application to Israel, so this sermon is gonna be broken up into three parts. The first part is gonna be the immediate application to Israel, the second part is we're gonna look at the timeless application to Jesus Christ, and then the third will be the future application to believers slash churches. Now who is Hosea? Well Hosea is actually a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel, and if you've been here on Thursday nights we've been talking about we're going through the book of Isaiah, and he is a prophet of the southern kingdom known as Judah, specifically of Jerusalem. Well Hosea is actually a contemporary of Isaiah, so while Isaiah is preaching to Judah, he's preaching to Jerusalem, those of Judah, simultaneously Hosea is actually preaching to the northern kingdom of Israel, specifically their capital known as Samaria. Now if you've read your Bible for any length of time you know that the northern kingdom is way more wicked, far more evil, and abominable than the southern kingdom. The southern kingdom of Judah is pretty bad, there's instances where they're involved in idolatry, they do things that are not pleasing in the eyes of God, but we would say like the northern kingdom is like the apostate nation, okay, they're far away out there, they've departed from the Lord, and when you read the preaching against Israel it's way more severe than it is towards the southern kingdom of Judah, we'll get into that later on. So God commands Hosea to marry a literal prostitute, her name is Gomer, she bears three children unto him, and each of those children essentially have or possesses a special spiritual significance to them of a message the guy was trying to get across to Israel, and because she's a prostitute she's out there selling herself to her lovers, and the illustration here is that Hosea is going out to purchase his wife back, okay, and so really the overarching illustration or the spiritual truth, the principle of the book of Hosea, is that the Lord has this unwavering love towards us as his people, and is willing to do anything to get us back when we stray from the paths of the Lord. Now let me just mention something that has nothing to do with the sermon itself, but it's just worth mentioning, and I'm not being facetious here, I'm not trying to be funny, but it's important to mention this because, you know, for sure there's gonna be someone out there that will believe this, and that is that this is not a template on how to find your wife, okay, you know, because someone would be like, oh, you know, God's approving of Hosea marrying a prostitute, therefore I should marry a prostitute, and I'm not saying that it's even out there, but it's important to mention that because you just have people out there that take things too literal, okay, so this is not a template on how to find a wife, but let me also say this, that it's not a condemnation of marrying a former prostitute. Obviously the Bible and God specifically condemns marrying a prostitute. We see in the book of Leviticus chapter 21 that he specifically tells the sons of Aaron, who are the priesthood, not to take, not to marry a whore, okay, someone that is profane, and it would apply to us today in 2024 as well as Christians because of the fact that if someone is marrying a literal prostitute, they're marrying someone who's making adultery their profession, okay, that is their literal occupation, and so they are out there committing abominable sins, committing adultery, which is a crime in the eyes of God, and it's a crime that is worthy of death according to the Bible, and so God is definitely against that, but he's not against obviously marrying a former prostitute. God can change people's lives and he can reform them, and the Word of God is powerful, and so I just want to mention that lest anyone should get any ideas towards the latter or the former, okay. Now let's talk about this particular story regarding the wife of Hordom. Let's talk about the immediate application to Israel because before we get into the spiritual application, the New Testament, what is God literally telling the children of Israel here? Well first and foremost, look at chapter 2 if you would, we see that Gomer, who is the wife of Hosea, represents the idolatrous nation of Israel. Look at verse number 1, it says, Say ye unto your brethren, Am I, and to your sisters Rehuma, plead with your mother, plead for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband. Listen to this, Let her therefore put away her Hordoms out of her sight, and I want you to notice this last phrase here, and her adultries from between her breasts. Now hold your place there and go to Proverbs chapter number 5 if you would, Proverbs chapter number 5. What is God or what is Hosea, what does he mean by that when he says for her to put away her adultries from between her breasts? You may think to yourself, wow this is very coarse language, you know, is God being vulgar here? What is he implying when he says to put away the Hordoms or adultries from between the breasts? Well in Proverbs chapter 5 we find warnings against adultery, warnings against fornication, but obviously we also see the writer of Proverbs reinforcing marriage, right? And in fact look at verse 16 of Proverbs chapter 5, this is where he reinforces it, encourages it, he says in verse 15, drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well. This is referring to marriage, okay, and this is not a necessary sermon on marriage, but this is just referring to the fact that you should be satiated with your spouse, okay? You should be happy with your spouse, only with your spouse, drink waters out of thine own cistern, out of thine own well. He goes on to say in verse 16, let thy fountains be dispersed abroad and rivers of water in the streets, let them be only thine own and not strangers with thee, let thy fountains be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Verse 19, let her be as the loving hind in pleasant row, and I want you to notice this, let her breast satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished always with her love. Now you may think to yourself, man, is this the kind of sermon you want to preach on a Sunday morning, Pastor? You know, it's like, it's getting kind of crazy right here. Well here's the thing, is that when he says let her breast satisfy thee at all times, what does he mean by that? Because we see the similar language in Hosea chapter 2, but he actually tells us what he means by that in verse 20. He says, and why wilt thou my son be ravished with a strange woman, and I want you to notice this, and embrace the bosom of a stranger. So when the Bible says to be satisfied with the breast of thy wife, it's in conjunction with verse 20 where he says to not embrace the bosom of a stranger. So the satisfaction of the breast of thy wife means you should only hug and embrace your wife, because obviously when you embrace someone, their bosom or their breasts are pressing against yours. You're hugging them, you're embracing them. So the instruction here is that, you know, you shouldn't be hugging other men's wives, you shouldn't be hugging any other woman but your own wife, right? You should be satisfied with only embracing your spouse. This is what the teaching is here. Now with that in mind, when we interpret Hosea chapter 2 and verse number 1 and 2 in that light where he says, put away your adultery from between her breasts, what do we see here? We see that Israel is committing spiritual adultery. Why? Because she's embracing false gods, okay? She is bringing to her bosom Moloch and Baal and all of these false gods. She is embracing everything but the God of the Bible, you understand? So the adulteries from between her breasts is referring to the fact that she is going apostate, she is embracing, she's accepting, she's being ravished with false gods of the land. Go back to Hosea, if you would, chapter number 2, and of course her that's being spoken about here is referring to Israel, okay? Illustrated by Gomer the prostitute. Look at verse number 4, we see that Gomer is going to her lover's for gain. It says in verse number 4, and I will not have mercy upon her children, for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother, listen to this, hath played the harlot. She that conceived them hath done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. So this is implying here that Israel is going after false gods for what she can get out of those false gods, thinking that worshipping Moloch and Baal and these false deities can provide resources, can provide riches, can provide wool, flax, oil, and drink. Look at verse number 6, if you would, we see a biblical principle here that sin can never truly satiate us. It says in verse 6, therefore, behold I will hedge up the way with thorns and make a wall that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them. And she shall seek them, but shall not find them. Then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now. What is it saying? It's saying that, you know, Gomer is seeking, you know, the wrong things and the wrong places. She's giving herself over to prostitution in order to accumulate flax, water, wool, oil, and drink, but then at the end of the day she's not happy with those things. So even when she does get wool and flax and oil and all the luxuries that come with sin, at the end of the day she's still not happy with those things. And the spiritual application here is that Israel, even though they're worshipping false gods, they're worshipping Baal, they're worshipping Moloch, they're doing these things that are not pleasing in the eyes of God, they're committing idolatry for what they can get out of it, when they obtain what they think they're gonna get, they're not happy with that. You know, that's exactly how sin is, my friend. Sin is pleasurable for a season, the Bible says, and sometimes sin has the ability to deceive you, to deceive me into thinking, well, if I just have this, if I just do this, if I just go here, I'll be happy, I'll be satiated. But, folks, the Bible tells us, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Truly the only thing that can really satiate the believer are the things of God, okay? And you'll notice that the Bible tells us that bread stolen in secret is sweet, but afterwards the Bible says thy mouth shall be filled with gravel. So you take the bite out of sin, you take the bite out of adultery, you take the bite out of fornication, you take the bite out of drunkenness, out of drugs, and yeah, you may enjoy it for a season, but, folks, let me just remind you that your mouth, spiritually speaking, will be filled with gravel. It doesn't taste good, okay? You'll notice that it doesn't satiate you, and you'll also notice that it'll begin to destroy your life. You'll suffer the consequences of your actions, for the wages of sin is death, the Bible says. You know, when lust has conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished, the Bible tells us, bringeth forth death, okay? So sin can never satiate. Look at verse 8, it says, for she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. What is he saying here? He's saying, you know, Israel obviously is not taking into account that the things that she's looking for, I've already provided. The happiness that she's looking for, I've already given to her. She's out there selling herself for water, wool, flax, oil, and drink, but she doesn't have to sell it, so she could literally just receive it from the hand of God and be right with God, okay? Righteous living is always satiating, my friends. Obviously, sometimes it's harder, sometimes it's more difficult, it requires more discipline, it requires you living a life that's not involved in sin, but hold on a second, the result of that is a clear conscience, how about that? The result of that is God's blessing. The result of that is God's hand is not against you for evil, for disobeying His commandments, and the result of that is that you get corn, wine, and oil. You know, this is important, especially for young people, who in this day and age, they can't seem to wait for marriage, and they want that physical relationship, and so they allow themselves to get involved in relationships where potentially they commit fornication. They do that which is not pleasing in the eyes of the Lord, and you know what, they think they'll be satiated by that fornication, but folks, all that brings is trauma, all that brings is hurt, all that brings is pain, all that brings is bad memories, all that brings is death. Not realizing that, hey, once you get married, you could be satiated in a proper way, and you can still be right with God. Marriage is honorable in all things, in the bed undefiled, but fornicators, whoremongers, and adulterers, God will judge, the Bible says in Hebrew chapter 13. Righteousness is always satiating, my friends, and you know what, you think to yourself, well, you know, coming to church and reading the Bible, it just doesn't really call my attention. Well, do it till it does. Some of us need to just change our appetites for the things of God, and some of us just have too much of a deep appetite for the wrong things, for sin, for the wrong activities, and God wants to change your appetite for the right things because it's not only beneficial to you, but it actually does satiate in the long run. Look at verse 13. It says in verse 13, and I will visit upon her the days of Balaam. Balaam is a false god. Obviously, it's referring to Satan, Baal, Beelzebub, Belpeor, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot me, saith the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably with her, unto her, and I will give her her vineyards from thence in the valley of Acor for a door of hope, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came up out of the land of Egypt. What does it say? It's basically saying, you know, Israel is putting her best foot forward for a false god. She is decking herself with earrings and jewels, all for Baal, all for Satan, right? And, you know, the Bible tells us that when people are involved in sin, according to Romans chapter 6, that they go from uncleanness into iniquity unto iniquity, but now God expects us to live from righteousness unto righteousness. In other words, you know, you should put your best foot forward for the Lord. Just as zealous as you were for the world and for sin and for the things of the world, you know, you should transfer that over to the things of God, okay? Just as loudly as you sing your Taylor Swift songs, you should sing God rest ye merry gentlemen, amen? As loudly as you sing whatever songs popular out there. I don't know who's popular, I just know Taylor Swift because I always hear about Swifties, you know, hopefully we got no Swifties in our church, you know, but I hope you're Swiftie here and slow to speak, amen? You know, just as passionate as you are about sin, you should be passionate about the things of God. You know, you put your best foot forward for sin, put your best foot forward for the things of God, whether that be reading your Bible, coming to church, you know, the zeal of thine house, the Bible says, hath eaten me up, we should also be the same. Go to chapter 4, if you would, chapter number 4 of Hosea, putting your best...you say, why do you guys wear a suit when you come to church? Because I'm putting my best foot forward because we're going to the house of God. Going to the house of God to hear the preaching of God's word, to sing praises unto the Lord, we're worshiping the God of the Bible, we are emphasizing the fundamentals of the faith, we're upholding soul-winning and evangelism, this is the greatest work on the face of the planet, why not put our best foot forward when we come to the house of God, right? Look at verse 13, or I'm sorry, verse 12, if you would. As I mentioned, the adultery of Gomer, the literal adultery of Gomer represents the idolatry of Israel. From chapters 1 to chapter 3, it's expressed regarding Gomer and her actual sin, but now from chapter 4 and on, it really focuses in and hones in on Israel's idolatry. Look at verse 12, my people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them, for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. By the way, don't be offended at that word whore, whoredom, that's a biblical term, amen? And sometimes, you know, if churches don't utilize these words, they begin to lose their meaning and thereby lose their power, okay? And then Christians become offended at biblical words because they're not being utilized, but this is a biblical term that should be used on a Sunday morning, amen, to express the fact that it's not only referring to the physical adultery, but spiritual adultery in the eyes of God when a person worships false gods. That's what it means when the Bible talks about playing the harlot, playing the whore, it's referring to the fact that they are worshipping false gods. Look at verse 13, they sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good, therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. What is it saying? It's referring to the fact that when the leaders are not on par, it'll have a trickle effect downward towards the followers. You know, if a person who's a leader makes excuses for idolatry, adultery, and sin, the followers will also follow suit and be involved in those sins as well. This is in verse 14, I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery, for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots. Therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall, though thou Israel played the harlot, yet let not Judah offend, and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up to Bethaven, nor swear the Lord liveth. Now what does he mean by verse 15? He's saying, you know, Israel, you're in really bad condition, you are idolatrous, you're involved in whoredoms, but do me a favor, don't influence Judah, you know, don't get involved with Judah, don't allow your idolatry to go down into Judah, and this is a good principle for us as Christians, that if you're backslidden, don't take people with you. If you're a backslidden Christian who is not excited about the things of God, you are involved in sin, don't take people with you, don't affect Judah, don't allow your influence to be over them, you know, if you're backslidden, you become backslidden, and I hope you get right with God, I hope you get right with God, I hope that you repent and get right with the Lord, I hope you start reading the Bible, I hope you get help, but let me say this, don't drag people down with you in your sin, and try to get people to be just like you, to think like you, to accept sin like you, that's wrong to do, don't be in Israel to Judah, okay, and so what the Bible's telling us here is that Israel obviously is involved in spiritual whoredoms, now what happens to Israel ultimately, because we see this throughout biblical history in the Old Testament, that Israel is just a spiritual whore from the start, especially, you know, when they're in the wilderness, they're worshiping false gods, they have a hard time just kind of following the commandments of the Lord, what ends up happening with them? Well, you have a couple kings, of course you have Saul, you have David, then you have Solomon, and after Solomon you have Rehoboam, Rehoboam, the kingdom of Israel, ends up getting split into two under the leadership of Rehoboam, and ten tribes of Israel actually end up going to the north with Jeroboam, okay, so Rehoboam stays in the south, Jeroboam goes to the north with ten tribes, and it's at that point that Israel is known as the northern kingdom, but then you have Judah as the southern kingdom, and Judah, Jerusalem, which is the capital, is far more favorable in the eyes of God than Israel, okay, you know, that's where Jesus comes from, just put it that way, right, whereas Israel over the years just excessively becomes apostate, they're worshiping false gods, they have an apostate religion, I mean they are straying from God more and more as the years go by, so what happens to them? Well, ultimately those ten tribes known as the northern kingdom of Israel actually don't even become Israel anymore, they become so mixed in with the heathen, the heathen, you know, the gods of the heathen that they're worshiping, they become so mixed in with them that they're actually not even identified as being Israelites anymore in the New Testament, and in fact Jesus Christ, when he is commissioning his apostles and his disciples to go and preach the gospel, he tells them not to go into the way of the Samaritans, but only into the lost sheep of the house of Israel, well here's the funny thing about that is that the Samaritans are referring to those ten tribes, those ten mixed tribes, the ten lost tribes, so even Jesus himself doesn't even consider them to be Jews, he doesn't consider them to be Israelites indeed, he calls them Samaritans because they have mixed in with the heathen, the four nations, and therefore they cease to exist, whereas Judah continues to exist, okay, during the time of Jesus Christ, and so they become mixed in. Now go back to Hosea chapter 1 if you would, Hosea chapter 1, now why make that point? Well because it's actually foretold in the book of Hosea that stuff like this would happen, okay, because obviously in the time of Christ Jesus wants his disciples to mainly focus on, in the immediate, to the house of Israel, okay, he wants the gospel to be preached to Jews, to the Israelites, and ultimately go out to the Gentiles. Now the Gentiles are not the plan B by the way, okay, God's always wanted Gentiles to be saved, in fact in the Old Testament Gentiles were being saved, throughout the Bible Gentiles are being saved, he's just referring to the proximity of the gospel which start first in Israel or Judah and then essentially make its way out to the uttermost parts of the world, okay, and so it's not that God didn't want Gentiles to be saved, he's always wanted, he wants all men to be saved, right, but here's the thing is that when Jesus Christ died on the cross he brought about what we would call the New Testament, the New Covenant, and with a New Covenant comes new conditions upon what it means to be the people of God. In the Old Testament the people of God were the physical nation of Israel that were essentially placed into Israel through the physical act of circumcision of that Old Covenant, whereas in the New Testament you can become the people of God not by physical circumcision but by spiritual circumcision which equates to believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you believe on Jesus Christ, if you place your faith in him for salvation according to the Bible, you now become the people of God, okay, you're child of God, you're the people of God, look at Hosea chapter 1 if you would, and by the way since you're the people of God that means that the physical nation of Israel that condition rests upon them as well. So if they choose not to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ then they don't get put into that New Covenant, okay, meaning that they're no longer the people of God. Well I thought they're physically of Israel though, yeah, but the New Covenant states that in order to be the people of God it has nothing to do with what ethnicity or what part of the world you're from, what's required is your belief in Jesus Christ. So if you have someone who's born in Israel, they grew up in the synagogue, they have the little box of scriptures on their forehead and on their arm, they have their phylacteries, they have all these things but they reject the Lord Jesus Christ, sorry you don't get, you know, grandfathered in to the New Covenant. I don't know, that sounds kind of weird but it's clearly stated even in the Old Testament though, okay. Look at Hosea chapter 1 verse 9 it says, then said God, call his name Loami, referring to the son, for you're not my people and I will not be your God. Now hold on a second, whoa whoa whoa, I thought the children of Israel were always God's people. Well there's instances even in the Old Testament where God said, you're not my people and I'm not your God. Now why is that controversial if the children of Israel are worshipping false gods? If they're following and worshipping false gods, it's justified for God to say, I'm not your God because God doesn't share his deity with anybody else and if he's not their God, guess what, they're not his people and this is why he's telling Hosea, name him Loami because you're not my people and I will not be your God. Look at verse 10, yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall it be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God. So you look at that and say, oh okay so they got a chance, you know, because right now they're not the people of God in Hosea's time frame but according to this prophecy there's gonna come a time where he's gonna say unto them, ye are the sons of the living God. Okay well hold your place there and go to Romans chapter number 9 if you would, Romans chapter 9 and go to verse 25 of Romans chapter number 9. If you're new here, if you have a new person sitting next to you, please help them navigate through the Bible there so they can find it. Romans chapter 9 verse 25, Romans chapter 9 verse 25 says, as he saith also in Osea, by the way Osea is just the New Testament pronunciation of Hosea, okay. So Hosea in the Old Testament is pronounced in the New Testament in Greek Osea, okay. So he's quoting Hosea, he says as he saith also in Osea, I will call them my people which were not my people and her beloved which was not beloved. Now the first thing I want you to notice here before we get into the reindeer of the passage here is that he's here he's addressing someone who's not his people, okay, and we can collectively say that the Gentiles in the Old Testament were not the people of God, but it says here that he's gonna call them his people, he's gonna call them beloved at one point. Look at verse 26, and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. Now who's the they? Well the they's referring to verse 25, those who are not the people of God, referring to the Gentiles, those who are not beloved. You say well then who specifically is this referring to? It's referring to us, Gentiles just in general. Well I think that's a stretch. Well hold on a second, who is this being written to? The Romans. Are Romans Jews? Are Romans Israelites? No, Romans are obviously Gentiles. He's writing to Roman believers and he's telling them you're the beloved, you're my people, you're prophesied in Hosea chapter 1, you know, you're not lo am I. Okay, he says in verse 27, Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. Skip down to verse 30, what shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness even the righteousness which is of faith. So it's saying that the Gentiles were able to attain to this status of being the children of God, not because they were righteous in and of themselves, but because they obtained the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You understand? When we believe on Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 4 that the righteousness of Jesus is imputed unto us. Okay, look at verse 31, but Israel, not referring to Gentiles, which followed after the law of righteousness, listen to this, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at the stumbling stone. So essentially what this is teaching is that the children of Israel, Israelites in general, sought to be the people of God by their works, by keeping the law, by being of Abraham, by things that come about their own merit, by their obedience to God's Word. And guess what folks, that's not how you get saved. Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, the Bible says. The Bible tells us that he became sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And it says here that Israel, they didn't seek it by faith, and they also stumbled at the stumbling stone. What is that referring to? The stumbling stone is referring to Jesus. So when Jesus came in the first century AD, he showed himself to the Israelites, they stumbled at that. In other words, they didn't believe on him. He said, what do they do to him? Crucify him. I mean, talk about extreme. Not only did they not believe on him, they crucified him and murdered him. Verse 33 says, as it is written, behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And mark it down folks, Jesus Christ is the rock of offense. He's the rock of offense to all religions out there. He's a rock of offense to Buddhism, to Hinduism, to Jehovah's Witnesses, to Mormons, to every false religion that exists in this world. He is an offense unto them because he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. That's offensive. What does he mean? He's saying, no one's going to heaven without me. He's not saying me and someone else. He's not like, he's not trying to kumbaya with all the false religions of the world. He's basically saying all the religions of the world will take you straight to hell, and the only path to heaven is through your faith in Jesus Christ only, okay? And so we see here that Israel became a wife of whoredoms because why? Because she's playing the harlot, worshiping false gods, and folks, it's the same today in 2024. Israel does not worship the God of the Bible. They worship a false god. And you say, well, they say they believe in the God of the Bible. Then tell them, then ask them, is that Jesus? And if they say no, then say liar, liar, pants on fire. Because the God of the Bible is Jesus. It's not controversial. Jesus Christ is the God of the Bible. He's the God of the Old Testament, and in fact, he said, I am. Before Abraham was, I am, he said, referring to the burning bush where Jehovah, by the way, revealed himself to Moses as the I am that I am, okay? Because the Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, but he is Jehovah, okay? So Israel became a wife of whoredoms who left her husband, as Jeremiah 31 puts it, I was a husband unto them, but of course Israel fled, worshiped false gods, no longer became the people of God, and suffered the consequences because of that. The kingdom of God was taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. That is what the Bible teaches. Go to Hosea chapter 3, if you would, Hosea chapter 3. So that is the application to Israel. Israel became the wife of whoredoms, but now let's look at the timeless application to Jesus Christ, and I've already kind of talked about this in the first point. Gomer represents the idolatrous nation of Israel, but really Hosea represents God or Jesus Christ who purchased us. Because look at Hosea chapter 3 in verse number 1, it says, then said the Lord unto me, go ye, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods and look to flagons of wine. Listen to this, so I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and a half-homer of barley, and I said unto her, thou shall abide before me many days, thou shall not play the harlot, thou shall not be for another man, so will I also be for thee. Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. We're going to go into different portions of scripture in the Bible, but make sure you have a bookmark in the book of Hosea. That is our point of reference there. So just as Hosea purchased Gomer unto himself, in like man of the New Testament teaches that we are also purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, right? The Bible tells us you're in 2nd Corinthians, I'm going to read to you from 1st Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 19, what know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you which you have of God, and ye are not your own. Listen to this, for ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are gods. Now, what is it saying? It's saying that when we believe on Jesus Christ, obviously our spirit belongs to the Lord, but according to the Bible, our bodies belong to Christ as well. He purchased us way more than a homer of barley, by the way. He purchased us with the eternal blood of Jesus Christ, okay? You know, no amount of money could buy the precious blood of Christ that was shed in order to purchase us, but he purchased us holistically. The Bible tells us in Isaiah, excuse me, in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13, in whom you also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession. So the Bible tells us there that when we got saved, you know, our spirit revived. Our spirit was dead in trespasses and sin, but it was quickened, the word quickened means be brought back to life, it was revived through the Holy Spirit, and now our spirit is living within us, but our flesh is still dead, okay? We have this carnal, corruptible flesh, but it's still purchased by God, though. And, you know, here's a really simple way to explain it. It's like our bodies on layaway right now, okay? Because it's purchased, maybe that's not the best one, you know, I don't know what what what illustration I can use in that regard. It's purchased, but he hasn't redeemed it yet, okay? So it's like he bought it, but it's still, you know, stored away in the back until the day of redemption. And what that means is that at the resurrection, he's gonna give us a glorified body and essentially complete that process of glorification whereby our flesh no longer struggles with sin, it's not tempted by sin. Now that's an important doctrine. It's important for people to understand what aspect of your being is actually saved, because the aspect of our being that's saved right now only is our spirit, not our body. How do we know that our bodies aren't saved? Because you still struggle with sin, that's why. You're still tempted by sin. You still sin. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's not adjustment upon earth to do with good and sin is not. The Bible tells us that there's none to do with good, no not one. There's none righteous, no not one. If you say you have no sin, you lie and do not the truth, the Bible says. Now why is it that you constantly sin? Why is it that I constantly sin? Because we have this incorruptible flesh, but one day it shall be redeemed, glorified, whereby we're no longer tempted by sin. It'll be Bruce Mihia 2.0, you know, Gio Francescini 2.0. We will have a major upgrade where sin is no longer even a thing to us, okay? The point that I'm making here though is that in order to even obtain that promise, we have to be purchased by God. And luckily the purchase has already been made, but the deal is complete and confirmed once you believe on Jesus Christ, okay? But with that being said, we are not to be a wife of whoredoms in this regard. Look at 2 Corinthians 11, verse number 1. It says, Would to God you could bear with me a little in my folly and indeed bear with me, for I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now we're not gonna read the entire chapter, but what he's implying here is that, you know, if there are people who are believing in another Jesus, hearing another gospel, believing another message, you know, embracing another spirit that's not of the Bible, the Bible considers that to be like adultery, okay, spiritual adultery. And the Apostle Paul is basically saying, you need to be doctrinally sound because I've espoused you to one husband, I want you to be as a chaste virgin to Christ, and essentially implying don't be a whore, don't be a prostitute who just believes in other spirits, other Gospels, other Jesus's out there, because wouldn't you agree that there's a lot of people who claim to be preaching Jesus, but they're not the Jesus of the Bible? Some people believe that it's a Jesus who was crucified on a pole, on a stake, the Jehovah's Witnesses. That's not the Jesus of the Bible. The Catholics believe that Jesus was a six-foot Caucasian male with long hair, right, in a dress, with blue eyes. It's like that guy does not look Middle Eastern at all. Wavy long hair, in a dress, but that is another Jesus, the Bible says. And so the Apostle Paul is just like, I want you to believe the right gospel, believe in the right Jesus, have the right spirit, because I have espoused you into one husband as a chaste virgin to Christ, not to anybody else. And this is why it's important that churches talk about doctrine. This is why it's important for us to address who Jesus Christ is, what the gospel is, who this Holy Spirit is, what the Trinity is. Why? Because we are to spiritually remain as a chaste virgin, as a church, as believers, unto Christ in a spiritual manner. Go to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1, and of course it all begins with the gospel. You know, there's a lot of churches out there, they claim to be Christian, but they muddy up the gospel presentation, they muddy up salvation. Right? They constantly talk about, oh yeah, it's by Jesus, but you know, if you don't have the works, then you don't really have the faith. Or you know, if you get out of church that you were never saved to begin with. And they add all these conditions upon salvation that are not biblical, and what are they doing? They're not being a chaste virgin unto Christ, because the chaste virgin unto Christ only has one husband, not multiple husbands. Okay? Look what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 18. For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Jesus, of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the Bible says. So the Bible's telling us here that we weren't redeemed by corruptible things, by false gods, by false doctrines of salvation. We were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And let me just stop and say this, is that it's accurate to say that we're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, just as it's accurate to say that we're saved by grace, just as it's accurate to say we're saved by his mercy, just as it's accurate to say we're saved by calling upon the name of the Lord. Because sometimes people will take this stance where it's just like, calling upon the name of the Lord? I thought we were only saved by faith. Of course we're saved by faith. But you know, we're also saved by Jesus, and both statements are true. But there's this constant attack on calling upon the name of the Lord, where people will say, well, you know, you don't really have to pray the sinner's prayer. Then how are you gonna get the gift? You gotta ask for the gift. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works that any man should boast. The Bible says, for whose service shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Genesis chapter 4 talked about men calling upon the name of the Lord. What are they doing? They're asking God to save them through their faith in Jesus Christ that they believed in, by grace and his mercy, through the Lord. I mean, however you want to put it, the Bible gives all types of facets of how to explain salvation, my friends. It's just like, well, I thought it was just by believing. Yes, it is just by believing. But the Bible also says, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God had raised him from the dead. For with the heart, man, believe it unto righteousness, but the mouth confession is made into salvation. Now, look, in our church, we are very systematic regarding our gospel presentation. What do I mean by that? Meaning we use the Romans road, we have a specific prayer for people to pray, and the reason we do that is because of the fact that there's so many churches out there that just teach a muddied version of the gospel. They muddy it up, they confuse people, so we try to be as specific as possible. And in 2024, you know, Christians and churches have had 2,000 years to refine their gospel presentation, right? Like, since Jesus went to heaven, you know, churches have, you know, the proto-church of the first century, they weren't as refined as we are today in 2024 in their presentation of the gospel, because they're so in close proximity to its commission, they had to improve and learn how to, you know, now we have, like, the Romans road. Now, we literally have a systematized way of explaining the gospel. So, you know, we have that, but obviously, the thief on the cross, what did he say? Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. What does that call? It's called calling upon the name of the Lord. The point that I'm making here, and I'm chasing that rabbit, is because of the fact that it's important for us to understand that all of those statements are true. The only one statement that would not be true if you're saying that you're saved by your works, okay? Go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 1, if you would, 1st Thessalonians chapter 1. So, in order to be a chaste virgin unto Christ, you know, you have to believe that it's by faith and not of works, because those two cannot, they cannot exist together in the context of salvation, because the Bible tells us, and if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise, listen to this, grace is no more grace. So, the Bible is literally saying that if you add works to grace in regards to salvation, you've literally made grace null and void by adding works to that. The only works we're saved by is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, that's it, okay? You know, we don't want to be a church of whoredoms, where we have all different types of Gospels, all different types of doctrines of salvation, we need to be as a chaste virgin unto Christ and say it's through Jesus only. Well, I know it's through, obviously, it's through Jesus, but you got to produce the fruits. No, it's only through Jesus. We're as a chaste virgin unto Christ. We're not preaching another Jesus, another gospel, have another spirit, etc. It's how the sermon is a wife of whoredoms. Now, let's give a future application to believers and churches. Churches should not be a wife of whoredoms. Now, what application am I giving here? Well, obviously, the Old Testament Israel was called a wife of whoredoms because of their idolatry. Now, in the United States of America, we don't really think about this stuff. You know, when you think of idolatry, you think of Southeast Asia, right, where it's like rampant. And, you know, how many of you have actually been to Southeast Asia? Anybody here other than my wife? Of course, Mike, all right. You know, these people attest, whether in Cambodia, you know, you go to India, that there is rampant idolatry in those areas, where literally there's false gods on every corner. It essentially permeates all of society. They're nations that are literally geared towards idolatry. That's what they do, okay, which would explain why they're in the condition that they're in, by the way, because they rejected the God of the Bible. But here, we don't really think about that, because we don't really have idolatry in our nation the way it's permeated other societies in this world. But here's the thing, though, is that we do have and possess some form of idolatry, and this is why it's important for us as churches and Christians to talk about idolatry. Because if we think to ourselves, well, because idolatry is not really a big thing in America, therefore we don't have to address it much, then what you do is you water down the doctrine of idolatry, then Christians don't really know what idolatry is, so that when Christians actually start practicing idolatry, no one sees it, okay? Now, I'll explain what I mean in just a bit, but let me read to you from Ephesians chapter 5, you don't have to turn there. In verse 25, it says, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkled or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now, in the New Testament, we know that idolatry is likened unto what? Covetousness, right? The Bible says idolatry, or excuse me, covetousness, which is idolatry, and that is somewhat of a secondary application to idolatry, but let's talk about, like, real idolatry, okay? And before I get into that, let me just say that this is not an idol. I just got to mention that, okay? And I promise you, there's someone in our church right now, they came and they're just like, this guy has idols in his church. How do you know? I just saw a YouTube video of a guy going through Jeremiah chapter 10, explaining how these are idols. No, this is not an idol, this is a, it's a tree, and on top of it, it's actually a fake tree, unfortunately. I'm not for fake trees. I had no say in this, you know, I'm just kidding, you know, that's also unfortunately a fake tree, but, you know, in times past, we've had real trees, but these are trees, okay? And they'll say, well, Jeremiah chapter 10 talks about, you know, Judah, you know, decking the trees with silver and gold, and they're fastening it with nails. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, they're worshipping Christmas trees back in Judah, back in the day. Yeah, for sure, that makes complete sense. But obviously, this comes from people who are just watching YouTube videos and actually not reading the Bible itself, okay? And quite frankly, the majority of people who make this argument regarding Jeremiah 10, I promise you, you give them a Bible, they can't even find the book of Jeremiah, period. I promise you, they haven't even read chapter 10. I promise you, if you give them Jeremiah, they'll look in the New Testament for Jeremiah. The vast majority of people, I promise you that, okay? Because I speak, I've spoken to many people, and I just, at base level, I say, where is Jeremiah in the Bible? And they're like, that doesn't matter. Of course it matters. You know, you're so familiar with chapter 10, tell me where it's at. But here's the thing, folks, is that, you know, it's nonsensical to claim that these are idols because of the fact that the Bible literally records trees being in the house of God in order to beautify the house of God, okay? First and foremost, not only that, but the Bible also records fir trees, listen to this, being graven for the doors of the house of God. So if the Bible is using fir trees, this is, we're gonna pretend this is a fir tree, a fir tree is a Christmas tree, they're using a fir tree, they're carving the wood of the fir tree to make the doors of the house of God, then obviously Christmas trees are not wicked, they're not idols. What is it referring to when, in Jeremiah chapter 10, when it talks about these trees that stand upright as a palm tree, they're being decked with silver and gold, it's literally talked about, talking about a graven image of a false god. Because look, folks, you can scour the Old Testament, you'll never find another example of a Christmas tree being an idol. What you will find is idols, actual false gods, being molten and graven and worshiped, that they have mouths but they cannot speak, eyes they have but they cannot see, ears they have but they cannot hear. It's referring to an image of a false god, not a Christmas tree, okay? And so to the people who believe that, read your Bible and turn off the YouTube channel of the guy who's making the video from his basement who has no idea what he's talking about, okay? And so these are not idols, but I will say this though, you know, churches have idols though. There are churches, there are Christian churches, so-called, that do practice idolatry ignorantly, okay? Now look at 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 8, it says, For from you sound not the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything, for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. We see the Thessalonians, what do they do? They put away their false gods in order to serve their God, our God. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 if you would, 1 Corinthians chapter number 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, and I'm going to read to you from 1 John 5 verse 21 says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10 in verse number 5, it says, But with many of them, referring to the Israelites in the wilderness, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, the people set down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. What are they playing? Not Scrabble, not Monopoly, not some board game, they're playing the harlot, because playing the harlot is synonymous with idolatry. Verse 8, Neither let us commit for an occasion, and some of them committed and fell in one day, three and twenty thousand. Look at verse 14, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. So you know if the Apostle Paul is warning Christians about idolatry, it's implying that saved people, churches who believe in the right salvation, can ignorantly have idols in their churches or in their homes, right? They can be committing the act of idolatry and not even know it. Now let's give some examples here, okay? This is important, because this is this is actually a sin in the Bible that actually merits excommunication from the church, believe it or not, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 5. You know the Bible says that fornication merits excommunication, extortion, drunkenness, but it also says idolatry. Now what are some examples? Well, let's talk about the cross, okay? Now, you know, sometimes people will have a cross on their neck, right, to signify Christianity. I don't believe that's an idol, by the way, okay? Because it doesn't have a graven image of God on it, if it's just like a cross. However, if you have Jesus Christ hanging on that cross, that is an idol. Don't let the Catholics fool you, okay? Don't let Presbyterians or these Protestants try to think it's okay to put a dead Jesus Christ. By the way, why would you even have that if you believe that Jesus Christ has risen? Weird. It's just like, oh man, let's put this, we're just commemorating the death of Christ. You know, we commemorate the death of Christ, but we exalt the resurrection of Christ, though, because our faith is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And according to Exodus chapter 20, no graven image should be made of anything of heaven above. And guess what's in heaven? Jesus is in heaven, okay? So images of Jesus should not be a thing in our homes or in our churches, understand? Why? Because that would be considered a dog. Oh, you fundamentalists, you need to learn the contextual context. Let me give you the contextual context of the cultural context. It's called spiritual whoredom in the Old Testament. You want some more context? It's whoredom according to the Bible. And you know, it's these Protestants who have infiltrated and influenced, who were infiltrated and influenced by the Catholics, who have infiltrated and influenced Baptists and Christians into thinking that that stuff is okay. So I'm not against crosses because a cross is a cross. It's not a molten image of a God. It obviously represents, people could say it represents Christianity, you know. And by the way, this is not talking about tattoos either, because tattoos are sinful according to the Bible as well. We're talking about actual images, things that people put on their on their necks or in their households or whatever. If you have an image of Jesus Christ or the Godhead, that would be considered idolatry. Let's give it another example, because what is Exodus 20 talking about? It's talking about graven images, molten images of anything, not just deities, but just people in general, okay. And this is why, and one of the reasons I'm talking about this is because we're in Christmas, you know. And one of the most popular things to do during Christmas is to have a manger scene, right? Like these molten graven images of animals and even of Jesus Christ. Well, he's a baby, but it's still Jesus though. And here's the thing, folks, let me just chase this rabbit. How do we even know what Jesus looked like? We don't. No one knows what Jesus looked like. Well, the Shroud of Turin though, the Shroud of Turin is like some European dude who died and they put in that turret that thing or whatever and claimed it was Jesus. You say, how do you know it's not Jesus? Because it doesn't look like a Middle Eastern dude. It looks like a European knight or something. But, you know, people worship that thing and claim that it's Jesus Christ and they think it has power or whatever. And look, even with the crosses, a cross can become an idol if you think it can actually give you some sort of protection, right? If you're superstitious about a particular item, that item can actually literally become an idol. You know, if you have a cross on your wall or something like that, it doesn't have Jesus on there, but you believe like just by having that there, it'll just protect you somehow. You know, the Catholics, I remember when I was a Catholic back in the day, anytime I drove by a Catholic Church, I would always do this. How many know what I'm talking about? Former Catholics, are you out there? All right, I see that hand. Did you guys do it or were you guys bad Catholics? Bad Catholic? I did it for uncleanness and to iniquity and to iniquity, okay? I was zealous about my false religion or whatever, but you know, I would do that because it's just out of superstition. That's idolatry. That wooden cross on the wall can't do anything for you. The chalice can't do anything for you. The rotting hand that the Catholic Church promotes in churches of some relic of some, you know, they claim is Jude's hand, can't do anything for you. It's probably fake, and if it isn't fake, they just chop some dude's hand off, put it in that thing or whatever, and claim that it was Jude's, and then you have thousands of Catholics worshiping that thing as if it can do, they just want to rub it a little bit. It does nothing for you, okay? And look, this applies also to items that you might possess that are idols. You're like, well, I don't really worship it, okay? It's for my grandma, it's for sentiment of value. It's still an idol, according to the Bible, because the Bible here is warning against idolatry even if you're not worshiping it. It says to just flee from it, period. And regardless if you're bowing down to her or not, it should just not, you should just not possess one, okay? You know, idols of saints should be thrown in the trash or burned, okay? We're like, why are you saying burned? Well, because I'm just trying to be a good Christian, and the Bible, the biblical pattern that we see throughout the Word of God is that the prophets and God's people, when they got right with God, would burn their idols, or they'd smash them to pieces. Now, we used to do this thing in our church called Idol Burning Sunday, and it was great, but then, you know, one of the church members almost burned the church down, so, you know, they threw a little too much gasoline into the pit there, but it's when we had somewhat, like, new Christians, and so we had a lot of, like, former Catholics and former Orthodox, and the Orthodox have idols, but they call them icons, okay? So they brought all that, and they're just throwing it in the fire, and it was great, and then we had the kids, we gave them bats, and we brought idols, and they're just bashing the idols, and, you know, because we want them to be zealous for the things of God, and realize that God hates those idols, okay? Now, some people were just bringing stuff to burn, they're just pyromaniacs or something. They're like, Mickey Mouse, this is an idol, right? I'm just like, can we just stick to actual idols, please, you know, actual devils? Although Mickey Mouse, I don't know, I'm just kidding. Look at verse 19 of 1 Corinthians 10. You say, well, why would you destroy an idol? Do you think it has any, like, power or something like that? No, because what does the Bible say? What say I then that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed is sacrificed to devils, and not to God, and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? So obviously, the New Testament here is warning us against this stuff, telling us that we should not be participating, partaking in, it doesn't matter if it has sentimental value, it doesn't matter if your grandma gave it to you, your great-grandma gave it to you, your loyalty should always be to the Bible and to Jesus Christ, okay? And so, you know, saints, crucifixes with Jesus Christ on them, manger scenes where the image of Jesus Christ is clearly portrayed, should be thrown in the trash, should be burned, it should be gotten rid of. Why? Because we're Bible believing Christians, and we do not want to be a wife of whoredoms. This is what God judged Israel for, was having idols. And keep in mind, the children of Israel, and even those of Judah, were claiming to worship God, all the while having these idols. And in fact, we're using the idols to worship God. Like, they would worship God and claim that by bowing down to those idols, possessing those idols, they were worshipping God. But folks, that's strange fire before the Lord. God doesn't accept that. That's not acceptable in the eyes of God. And so it's important for us as Christians not to try to make excuses for icons, idols, little trinkets of idols. Well, you know, this little baby Jesus, I got it from a friend, and he was a Christian, and he said, good luck with this. That needs to go in the trash. And we need to re-emphasize the importance of recognizing that idolatry is a major sin in the Bible. Go to 1st Corinthians chapter 5, and we're almost done. Look, that's why I'm against just even statutes, period, of people. According to biblical standards, that's an idol. You know, for you Americans out, you zealous patriots out there, you know, this is gonna offend you, but the Statue of Liberty is an idol. First of all, it's a dude in a dress, just to let you know that. But secondly, it's an idol, you know, and I know that's offensive to a lot of patriots, but you know what? I'm a Christian before I'm a patriot, and at the end of the day, if it contradicts what the Bible says, then I'm against it. Okay, but you know, Christians, they don't see this because even, you know, at Howes Anderson College, which is a fundamental Baptist college, they have a molten image of Jack Howes there, and it's just like, what are you doing? It's idolatry, my friends. How severe is this sin? Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 5, verse 11. It says, but now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or extortioner would such in one know not to eat. So it mentions there that if you are involved with someone who is an idolater, the Bible says don't even eat with this person. That's how severe the Bible categorizes this matter of idolatry. And look, that's why I don't really have Catholic friends. Now, any Catholic that I know, if I'm befriending a Catholic, it's to win the Catholic, right? I don't just, like, make friends just so I can, like, have, like, a friend or something like that. Like, I want to be able to win that person to Christ. I want to be able to influence that person for righteousness. I want to be able to show them what the Bible says and have my God be their God, okay? And so, you know, the Roman Catholic Church is notoriously a wife of whoredoms, okay? They're not even a wife. It's just the Roman Catholic Whore is what it is because it's just filled with so much idolatry and they're trying to justify their actions and claim that they're worshiping God and they're not worshiping saints or whatever. They're just venerating Mary or something. Veneration means worship. And so, what's the message today? The message is simply this. Hey, during the Christmas season, beware of idolatry. Don't get so caught up in the Christmas spirit that, you know, you pull out that beautiful little manger scene that you've had all the years and you're just like, well, you know, God knows my heart. Yeah, he knows your heart and he knows that that heart is just lacking knowledge that that's idolatry. He knows your heart is disobedient and rebellious and you're just not willing to listen to the Bible, okay? That's what he knows. If you really want to use that argument, when people say God knows my heart, people make it seem as though they have like a really good heart or something. God knows my heart, all right? And you're still doing it? That's worse, you know? Be a Christian who believes the Bible, rejects idolatry, hates idolatry, and recognize, you know what, God is against having a wife of whoredoms, a spiritual whore that involves themselves with the idolatry of this world. And you're like, well, the world is very accepting of it. Yeah, well, what does the Bible say, ye adulterers and adulteresses? Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? And so let's not get our definitions from the world and from those who claim to know the Bible, those who claim to know Jesus Christ. We need to get it straight from the Bible. According to the Bible, those things are idolatrous and we should abstain from them. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the book of Hosea, Lord. And I pray, Father God, that you would help us to be a lover of the Bible. And even sometimes the physical Bible itself, to some people, can become an idol because they think it can provide for them some sort of spiritual protection just by it being present in their house. But really, we know that the power comes in the content and the obedience to God's Word. Help us as your people to reject the idols of this world, not to be influenced by Catholicism, by Protestantism, and those who try to justify their wicked idolatry, Lord. Help us as your people to be a chaste virgin unto Christ, that we would be a church that's without spot and wrinkle, and that we would be a church that's pleasing in your eyes. We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.