Spiritual Adultery Brings Temporary Misery

Intro:

1. Charles Stanley, “It is as though we have told the Lord, “Yes Lord, I am willing to be married to You, as long as, I can hide the marriage license, so at any time I choose to be faithful I’ll do it.” But when you commit yourself to Jesus Christ, you are to forfeit your rights. What right do you have to reserve any part of yourself from Him – your possessions, your energy, your time. If He is the God of the universe and your God, how can you rebel against His authority over your life?”

2. Israel, like the Church, was married to God and to give Him anything less than a loyal heart is to commit spiritual adultery.

3. Spiritual Adultery brings Temporary Misery.

I. First, Revelation of Spiritual Adultery’s Misery. 1:1-9

Hosea 1:1-9 (NKJV)

1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD."

3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 Then the LORD said to him: "Call his name Jezreel, For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, And bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.

5 It shall come to pass in that day That I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel."

6 And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away.

7 Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the LORD their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen."

8 Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son.

9 Then God said: "Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God.

A. The Principle. 1:1-2

Word of the Lord came to Hosea…when the Lord began to speak by Hosea – God must first speak to us, before He can speak through us. When the Disciples feed the 5,000 plus, they had to first get the bread from Jesus.

The Principle is simple: If we want God to work through us, we must first allow Him to do a work in us.

B. The Example.

Wiersbe, “Here we meet a bit of a problem not many Bible students agree on the kind of woman Hosea married. Hosea either married a pure woman, who later became a prostitute or he married a prostitute who bore him three children.

Since the Jews were idolatrous from the beginning (Josh. 24:2-3), it seems likely that Gomer would have to be a prostitute when she married Hosea; for this would best symbolize Israel’s relationship to the Lord.”

C. The Loyal. 3

What if God told you to marry not only a prostitute but one who you knew would be unfaithful to you! God often asks us to do things that do not make sense to us. Can you imagine Abraham being commanded to offer up his only son Isaac?

“Did you notice Abraham’s response? Availability. Submissiveness. Obedience. No complaint. No question. No rationalization. No argumentation. No asking of “why?”

Are you committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, understanding that His Lordship means that you acknowledge His right to have final authority in all your life’s decisions? Is He truly Lord in your life?...

He could have said, “Surely there is something amiss Lord. After all, You promised that my seed would multiply. Kill my only son, the son You promised? That doesn’t make sense.” That’s probably what I would have said to God, but Abraham did not. There was not one questioning note about him. He did as he was commanded without a mumbling word.

You see, you cannot logically figure God out. He often does what seems unreasonable. Of course, today God will not tell you to kill your son, and God spared Abraham’s son. There are many voice which are not His voice. Any word, any voice, any message you receive, regardless of who delivers it, that tells you to violate even one principle of God’s Holy Word is straight from hell, from the devil, from Satan himself. It is Satan’s lie, and do not listen to it.” [Charles Stanley]