Pressing On To Know The Lord

Title: “Pressing on to Know the Lord” Script: Hosea 6:3

Type: Thematic Where: GNBC 1-5-25

Intro: What are you absolutely certain of? What do you KNOW with complete certainty? The sun will rise in the east and go down in the west? A common 1st year psychology experiment to test conformity often used involves presenting a clearly true statement to a class, but previously instructing half of the class to deliberately say it is false when asked, observing how many students in the remaining half will conform to the majority response and also say it is false, even though they know it is true. What do you know that you know that you know? What are you unshakeable in? I hope it is Christ!

Prop: Exam. Hosea 6:3 we will be challenged to know God.

BG: 1. Hosea was an 8th cent. prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC. He preached to the northern kingdom. 2. Hosea was commanded to take a wife who would become a prostitute as an example of God's relationship with Israel. Hosea was to manifest God's patience and love. 3.

Prop: Let’s heed the challenge to know God this 1st Sunday of 2025

I. The Inherent Danger of Not Knowing God – Hosea 4:6

A. Hosea Chastised the People of Israel for their lack of knowledge of God.

1. Examine what the prophet declares earlier in the book.

a. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” The term "destroy" (BDB 198, KB 225, Niphal) means "to cut off" and thereby to cease to exist. The people were guilty, not because they did not understand, but because they knowingly turned away and refused to obey God. This was especially true of the religious and political leaders.

b. The ignorance of and lack of practice of true faith among Israel, was the primary cause of those sins which drew down such heavy judgments upon the nation. Because Israel rejected the knowledge of God they were destroyed. Hosea is saying here: “The people are as good as dead/destroyed…” because of lack of instruction by both prophet and priest. Illust: I shudder to think of the condemnation that will be leveled in eternity against this generation of pastors and priests who have failed to warn their flocks of the reality of a Christ-less eternity. Oh, there have been great symposiums on the environment, consultations on racial and economic injustice and inequity, endless deliberation and dialogue on inclusion and sexual orientation, advocation for and against immigration, and most recently a gossipy gabfest by Christian conservatives against an insignificant and miniscule element within the right of their ranks. Quit squandering your breath and time and preach salvation in Christ!

2. Information Alone Does Not Equal Knowledge.

a. Illust: Increase of information. Generally speaking, prior to 1900ad, information was said to double about every 100 years in the West. In 1945 the amount of information in the world was said to have doubled every 25 yrs. By 1982 the amount of information in the world was doubling at a rate of about every 13 months. In 2024, however, according to many credible sources, the rate of information doubling is now about 12-13 hrs!

b. In the midst of this terrifying rate of change God remains constant, and it is for our salvation: Mal. 3:6 declares: ““For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” Information may double every half of a day, yet the WOG tells me: “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever…” (Heb. 13:8).

B. The Absence of Knowledge of God is Deadly.

1.Hosea’s Warns Israel of the Deadly Consequences of Their Lack of Knowledge.

(Illust – Mary – got a mini trampoline. Warning tag: May Cause Death. Set up carefully.)

a. Illust: We’ve all heard the statement: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” It means that having only a small amount of information about something can lead to overconfidence and poor decision-making, as people might believe they know more than they actually do; it's often used to caution against acting on limited knowledge.

b. What was the great sin that led to both Israel and Judah’s destruction in the OT? Some will say it was due to not celebrating the Sabbath years and years of Jubilee (Lev. 25&26; II Chron. 36; Jer. 25). That is true. Some say it was because both kingdoms played the harlot with various false gods and idolatry (II Ki.17:7ff; Is.40:1ff). That is true. Some say it was because of the “bloodguilt” of both nations. That is true. Both nations committed idolatry, child sacrifice, and ritual prostitution. All were abominations to the Lord. Might I suggest that although all of these contributors to exile were grievous sins, they were the effect or the outcome and not the root cause. What was the root cause? Simple…Judah and Israel's great, long-standing, and most basic sin was neglect of the Word of God! It was the neglect of God’s Word that led to destruction.