Broken to be Better

The condition of the church

Robert Morris news has really effected me deeply

One of nearly a dozen high profile pastors who have fallen in the past couple of years.

We have a tendency to believe…

that this is an indictment on large churches.

that this is an indictment on pastors at large.

I submit that what lives at the top lives at the bottom as well.

There is an inherent sinfulness and corruption that effects the church.

If you are saved today | This message is a call to evaluate ourselves

If you are lost today | This message should let you know that you are not out of place

No matter who we are and what our condition…todays sermon is a call to sobriety in regards to our waywardness of heart.

We must practice faithfulness in our pursuit of our king.

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Transition to talking about Hosea

There is an Old Testament prophet who gives us a good picture of what I want to talk with you about today.

Hosea is a prophet who is called by God to marry someone who will cheat on him multiple times.

Can you imagine getting this call from God.

God is asking him to knowingly enter into a relationship with someone who will be unfaithful to Him.

This completely denounces the concept that God will never call us to do something that is painful.

Hosea is called to do this because his life is to be an illustration of what God is doing with the nation of Israel.

__________ Isegesis Disclaimer

When we read the Old Testament in particular…we must be careful not to read ourselves into the text.

The Bible was written for us but not to us.

You are not Abraham…You are not David…You are not Samson.

However these stories show us things about the character of God.

We are not Gomer, but the resolve to facilitate relationship in spite of the multiplicity of failures is still a present reality about the nature of God.

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The kids are the outline

Hosea 1 opens up by telling us about his call to marry Gomer…and then it tells us about the life that they were creating together.

They quickly have a son and Hosea is called to give him a very catchy name.

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Jezreel

Jezreel is not a common name in this time period…in fact it was so uncommon that it was awkward.

It translates as bloodshed.

Hosea prophesies through the naming of this first child that a lifestyle of unfaithfulness will produce negative consequences.

If you don’t use the equipment according to the manual, then you can’t get mad when you have unfortunate circumstances?

God was prophesying through the naming of Hosea’s children what the future of Israel would be if they continued going after other loves besides him.

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LoRohanna

Gomer has another child named LoRohanna.

Some scholars allude to the fact that We don’t have certainty of who the father is.

It’s worth noting that the first child mentioned says she bore to him a son and this child does not have a father attributed.

It’s also somewhat interesting that this child's name means “not loved.”

This is seemingly not indicative of how Hosea felt about the child but rather…

a prophecy about the progression of continual pursuits of things that are not in keeping with the covenant relationship with God.

REMEMBER THE LOVE OF GOD IS AVAILABLE TO US…

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Unfaithfulness = Unintended Consequences

Leaning in for a moment into the concept of this child being the product of one of Gomer’s extramarital affairs…

it’s important to remember that every pursuit has the capacity to produce.

There is no such thing as an isolated incident.

Newton’s Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Every decision you make is going to bear fruit.

We treat our actions as though we are throwing them in a trash can.

Actions are sown not thrown

We need not be overwhelmed by the implications of this fact,

but it is important to understand that our decisions matter.

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Practical Applications

When you have the option to spend time in prayer or scroll socials…Your actions have consequences

When you have the option to elude the temptation or dive into it…Your actions have consequences

When you have the option to have the hard conversation or harbor the hard feelings…Your actions have consequences.

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LoAmmi

Finally we see the final stage of Hosea’s prophetic outline in the name of the third child that he would raise with Gomer.

The name is LoAmmi.

This name means “not my people.”

God prophesies through the children of Hosea that there are consequences to the wayward living of the “people of God.”

It starts with negative results | Bloodshed

It continues to lack of intimacy | Not Loved

It ends at lack of relationship. | Not my People

God will not force people who do not want to be his to be his.

I fear there are many who claim christianity that have chosen to adhere to the religion absent the God it is pointing to.

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Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

I don’t want to use numbers as a measuring stick for success.

I don’t want to use influence as a measuring stick for success.

I don’t want to use budget size as a measuring stick for success.

CLOSENESS…THAT IS THE SUCCESS INDICATOR.

Entrance into heaven requires Intimacy on earth.

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Is it the devil?

There is a general sense of brokenness in regards to established religion and I believe there will be more to come.

We can get caught in the mindset that says “The enemy is really at work.”

But that is to ascribe revelation to the enemy.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 NKJV

14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

It is with this in mind that I want us to view this season of revelation and holy discontent in regards to the current state of ecclesiology.

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The God who breaks stuff

Hosea 6:1–3 NKJV

1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight. 3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

If we are not careful we will see the tearing season…the demolition season…the season of change as a season wherein God is absent.

But often God is the overseer of the tearing.

The best builders are the most precise destroyers.

There is an art form to tearing out the old broken pieces of a house and building back on the foundation that is unaffected by the poor choices of the previous designers.

He has torn but he will heal.

He has stricken but he will bind us up.

The whole purpose for the tearing and striking is that we may live.

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We simply have to know.

And Hosea gives us one priority in the midst of these seasons of tearing.

Hosea 6:3 NKJV

3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Run after the revelation of God’s plan.

I’m not asking Him to stop…I’m simply pursuing an understanding of His plan in the midst of it.

Don’t remove the pain…just help me find the purpose.

Don’t skip this season…just help me understand why it’s necessary.

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What is necessary in order for us to return to our first love is a recalibration of what success is.

Davy preaching the gospel as he was being tortured and murdered by enemy gangs.

God, help us discontinue our tendency to be drawn away by the smallest things.