Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?

Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2019-12-15

Synopsis: John Weaver expounds Hosea 9 to warn that when a people persistently rebel against God, He will depart from them, withdrawing His manifest presence, provision, protection, and preaching. This departure is the ultimate judgment, leaving only death and destruction. The sermon calls for repentance and faith to avoid being cast away from God.

[John Weaver] Hosea chapter 9, and I want to take the time to read the entire chapter, all 17 verses. Hosea 9, the title of the message is, Have you said your goodbyes to God? Have you said your goodbyes to God? Look in the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea. Hosea chapter 9, beginning there with verse 1, Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God. Thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her.

[John Weaver] They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the LORD?

[John Weaver] For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all of his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore he will remember their iniquity, and he will visit their sins. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.

[John Weaver] I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves into that shame. and their abominations were according as they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them that there shall not be a man left.

[John Weaver] Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. Give them, O Lord, what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying wound and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them. For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house.

[John Weaver] I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters. Evrium is smitten, their root is dried up. They shall bear no fruit, yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. My God will cast them away. because they did not hearken unto him, that they shall be wanderers among the nations." The title is, as I said, Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

[John Weaver] I found it interesting and amusing that we often teach our children how to say bye-bye. The smallest child usually can wave and say bye-bye, and every parent is delighted when the little child can do that. And they always like to demonstrate it and show it to you as well. I remember our two oldest grandchildren, who are now 31 years of age, when they were about two, Alice and I took them to the store because they wanted cow boots. They couldn't even say cowboy boots. And so our plan was we were going to take them to the store We were going to try on those boots and then we were going to come back later and buy them because we really didn't have, I had 20 bucks is what I had and we needed some groceries. So, we put the boots on them and let them walk around a little bit and Alice took them back off, put them in the box and we kind of marked them and put them in a special place so we could come back and pick them up a little bit later.

[John Weaver] And as I picked Casey up, Alice picked Renee up, and we were walking out of the store, and Casey looked back at those boots, and he said, bye-bye, cow boots. And I told Alice, I said, get them. We'll go hungry. Don't worry about it, you know. And if he had pitched a fit, he would have never, ever gotten those boots, plus he had gotten a spanking as well, but it was that little, voice that was so, you know, pathetic. He really wanted those cow boots. Well, we, I usually use this as an illustration because I'll pass an outlet store or a shopping center or a store where Alice shops and I have absolutely no intention of stopping and as I pass by I'll look at Alice and say, bye-bye outlet center, you know, because I'm not about to stop.

[John Weaver] But Joe, leaving family and friends is a very difficult task. I've been hugged and kissed and embraced numerous times by family and friends who are leaving. And I've done the same thing myself. Just yesterday as we left Pastor McCurry's funeral, I don't know, we hugged the family members three or four five times before we ever left, and they did the same to us. And so it's very difficult when you have close friends and good family.

[John Weaver] And oftentimes when they drive off, you're standing there waving until they're totally and completely out of sight. But when you stop and think about that, there are some people that you really like to see come, but you're sometimes more delighted to see them leave as well. And there's a very pertinent verse concerning that in the Bible. Proverbs chapter 25 verse 17, the Bible says, withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house, lest he grow weary of thee and so hate thee. So the ideal according to the scripture is this, there is a time to visit and there's a time to leave. And you need to leave when you're always welcome to come back. And so you want to leave as a welcomed guest.

[John Weaver] Now, the reason I'm saying all of that is when you look at Hosea chapter 9, God is casting out an unwelcomed guest, and that unwelcome guest happens to be His own covenant people. They have forsaken Him, and now He is forsaking them. They have abused and misused and perverted and rejected Him and His graciousness and His person as a host and provider, and now He's going to send them away. And He does not just simply send them away.

[John Weaver] He also casts them out. And He not only casts them out, the Bible tells us, He also departs from them." Look, if you would, at verse 12. He says,"...though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left. Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them." Then look in verse 15,"...all their wickedness is as gilgal, for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their doing I will drive them out of mine house."

[John Weaver] I will love them no more, all their princes are revolters." And then look in verse 17,"...My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him." Have you ever really thought about, or have you ever really considered what it is like to be cast away from God and His graciousness? Have you ever considered what it would be like in a society, in a nation, when God totally forsakes the people and forsakes the nation and departs from them.

[John Weaver] When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope. They had departed from God, and now God is departing from them. If you would hold Hosea 9, But look back to Hosea 7, and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Hosea 7 and verse 13. Look what God says,"...Woe unto them, for they have fled from Me.

[John Weaver] Destruction unto them, because they have distressed against Me. Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. And they have not cried unto Me with their heart when they howled upon their beds, They assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me. Though I abound and strengthen their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me. They return, but not to the Most High.

[John Weaver] They are like a deceitful bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt."

[John Weaver] Now, Israel had been warned. God specifically told them in advance that if they forsook Him, that He would forsake them." If you would hold the book of Hosea chapter 9, turn back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, and look if you would please at chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31, and we'll begin reading there with verse 16. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16, and we'll read through verse 18. Watch this. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16.

[John Weaver] And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whether they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then mine anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them. and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? Look what God says in verse 18, And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Then if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and verse 20, Deuteronomy 32 and verse 20, he says this again. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very frail generation, children, and who has no faith.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look at verse 20. He said, I will hide my face from them, and I will see what their end shall be. Let me just kind of paraphrase this for you. God said, I'm going to hide Myself from you. I'm going to withdraw. I'm going to depart. And I'll just see what your end's going to be. I'll see how you fare without Me, without My blessings. In other words, He knows that they're going to be destroyed. So He's just saying, you've departed from Me, now I'm going to depart from you. I suppose that one of the greatest judgments than an individual, a family, a church, a society, a people, a nation could ever face is when God leaves us alone. Here's my question. Have you ever really considered the implications of when God departs from us? Have you ever considered the implications when God casts us off? and cast us out. So here is the general question. When God departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, what do we lose?

[John Weaver] I'm going to give you four things. I want you to listen. First of all, we lose His presence. Very obviously, if God withdraws Himself, if God departs, we lose His presence. So if Gary got up and walked out of this room and never came back, we would have lost His presence. He would no longer be among us. Okay? So obviously, when God departs, we lose His presence. Now, I can hear a question arising in your minds, and you're going to say, but listen, I know that God is omnipresent. If God is omnipresent, how can I lose His presence? Well, first of all, let me explain omnipresence, okay?

[John Weaver] Because sometimes there's confusion concerning that. A lot of people try to think that Part of God is in China, part in Africa, part in Mongolia, part over here in the United States, part over here in the United Kingdom, and you put all these parts together and you end up with one God. No, that is pure heresy. The presence of God means that God is everywhere at one time in the totality of His person. There is never a place where God is not in the totality of His person. So let me explain the omnipresence of God before I explain how we lose His presence.

[John Weaver] So if you will turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. In this Psalm, you're going to see not only the omnipresence of God, but you're also going to see the omniscience of God. Now, God's omniscience means that He is all-knowing. There is not one thing that God does not know. He is omniscient. Notice, if you would, Psalm 139, verse 1. David says, O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Now look at verse 2, Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising. You know when I sit down, you know when I get up. Thou understandest my thought afar off." Did you know in the book of Ezekiel, God says, I know thy thoughts, every one of them, before they enter into your mind. So, God even knows our thoughts before we even think them. So He says, verse 3, Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it all together.

[John Weaver] Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto it." So the first six verses deals with God's omniscience. Verses 7-12 deals with God's omnipresence. Watch at verse 7. He asks this question,"...whether shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whether shall I flee from Thy presence?" If I ascend up into heaven, dart there.

[John Weaver] If I make my bed in hell, behold, art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike unto thee.

[John Weaver] So what he's saying is, look, I can't get away from God. God isn't only omniscient, God is omnipresent. So if God is omnipresent, how do we lose His presence? Listen carefully. What we lose is His manifest presence. I want you to turn in your Bibles, to the book of Jonah. Hosea, Joel, Amos, and then Jonah. Look, if you would, Jonah chapter 1. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Watch this carefully. Jonah chapter 1, verse 1. Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.' But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. And he went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." Now skip down to verse 10.

[John Weaver] Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them." Now how can Jonah flee from the presence of the Lord if God is omnipresent? He was fleeing from the temple where God peculiarly and particularly manifested Himself. He was getting away from the temple.

[John Weaver] Now, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, the patriarchs did not just simply go around building altars. The patriarchs built altars only on two occasions. Number one, when God commanded an altar to be built, or number two, where God had particularly and peculiarly revealed Himself. So, if you look in your Bibles holding Hosea, if you would, go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 13.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse 13. And notice what the Bible says concerning Abram. Notice Genesis chapter 13, and we'll begin reading there with verse 13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Verse 14, And the Lord said unto Abram after that lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. Note now, for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Arise, walk through the land, and the length of it, and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." God had revealed Himself. God had manifested Himself.

[John Weaver] And so now He builds an altar. Look in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 9, because now God has told him to go offer his son, his only son Isaac, And look, if you would please, at verse 9, And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abram built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." In other words, God ordained this altar and so, obviously, he built it in obedience to God. If you look in Genesis chapter 35 and verse 7, You'll remember how that Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau. And of course, he laid down and then God revealed Himself to Jacob. And in verse 7, the Bible says this, And He built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel, the house of God. Because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother.

[John Weaver] So, you didn't just go around building an altar anywhere you wanted to build an altar. You had to build where God either commanded or where God appeared in a particular way.

[John Weaver] Now, Moses built one in Exodus 17, verse 15. Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi. But that was where God sovereignly, powerfully, and providentially delivered them from their enemies as well. So, while it is clearly and obviously truthful, that God is omnipresent. It is also clearly and obviously truthful and evident that there are places and there have been places in the Old Testament where God particularly and peculiarly manifested Himself. You remember, and we are going to say the tabernacle and the temple particularly, because the Shekinah glory came down. You remember that? The question then has to be asked, is there a place in the New Testament where God peculiarly and particularly reveals Himself?

[John Weaver] And the answer is yes. Well, where would that be? It happens to be the church. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 18, we shall begin reading with verse 15 and read through verse 20. Notice if you would, please, Matthew 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 15. Look what he says, and please note the context. "'Moreover, thy brother shall trespass against thee. Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more than the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established." Now watch,"...and if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let it be unto thee as a heathen man and a republican." Now we're talking about the church.

[John Weaver] "...Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. And again I say unto you, that if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." So, this context has to do with church discipline, and it has to do with two or three gathering together in His name, even exercising church discipline.

[John Weaver] So, there is a peculiar and a particular place in the New Testament where God reveals and manifests Himself just like there was in the Old Testament. Now, when God casts away a people, There is no longer a manifest presence of God. The only thing that is left is coldness, emptiness, and death. God cannot be found when He departs.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, chapter 5, and get ready, because I want to show you a verse. And as you're turning to Hosea 5, let me quote Proverbs 1 in verse 28, where God says, They shall call upon Me, but I will not answer. They shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me. So when God departs, you can seek all you want, you will not find. You can cry all you want, God will not hear. Look in Hosea 5 and verse 6. God says, they shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him.

[John Weaver] He has withdrawn Himself from them. So when God withdraws, when God hides His face, when God departs, it is impossible to find Him. Our Lord said it like this in John 7 and verse 34 to those Pharisees. He said, you shall seek Me and shall not find Me, and where I am, thither you cannot come. And He said the same thing in John 8 and verse 21, then Jesus said to them, I go My way and you shall seek Me and you shall die in your sins. Whether I go, you cannot come. So it doesn't matter what you offer or what you sacrifice, when God departs, He is not going to listen.

[John Weaver] If you look back to Hosea chapter 9, look at verses 4 and 5. Look what he says. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him. In other words, it doesn't matter what a unrepentant, unbelieving person offers God is unacceptable. They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their souls shall not come into the house of the Lord." Then God asks, what will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the Feast of the Lord? In other words, how can you offer something to Me when I'm not accepting, when I'm not even there? I've departed. I've withdrawn. Wow!

[John Weaver] You know, we have never really stopped to consider the implications of the departure of God from a people. We've never really stopped to understand what happens when God withdraws Himself. If you would really like to know what it's like to lose the presence of God, all you have to do is look around at our churches and you will find them cold, calloused, confused, contorted and comfortless. He's left us to ourselves. Now we have plays and programs and entertainments and musicals But we no longer have the power and the presence of God. We can no longer say like the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 3 and verse 6, to this man who is begging for alms, Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. There was the power and there was the presence of God. you go to the average church today, there's no awesomeness, there's no sense of the presence or the power of God.

[John Weaver] We lose His presence, His manifest presence when God departs. That's not all. If you look back in Hosea chapter 9, we also lose His provision. Look, if you would please, at verse 2. He says,"...the floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." In other words, whatever you have stocked up, the grain floor, it's not going to feed you. The winepress is not going to satisfy you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 6.

[John Weaver] He says,"...for lo, they are gone, Because of the destruction, Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles." In other words, all of their gardens and everything else that would be precious is now nothing more than thorns and nettles. Let me ask you a question. Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?

[John Weaver] I want you to hold, Hosea, but I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, back to Jeremiah chapter 5. Jeremiah chapter 5. And notice, if you would please, let's begin reading there with verse 7. You see, here's what we do. We take everything that God gives us and we abuse it and pervert it and misuse it. So, Jeremiah 5, look in verse 7. Look at the question God asks, How shall I pardon thee for this?

[John Weaver] Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. Now watch. When I fed them to the full, that is, when I provided for them, when I gave them everything they needed, everything they wanted, when I fed them to the full, what did they do? Then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning.

[John Weaver] Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Skip down to verse 21. Look at it. Verse 21,"'Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not. Fear you not me, saith the Lord? Will you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people have a revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone, neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season.

[John Weaver] He reserveth and doth the appointed weeks of harvest." Your iniquities! have turned away these things, the rain, the harvest, and your sins have withholden good things from you."

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something. I know that the Bible tells us that God is gracious and kind, and that God blesses the just and the unjust alike in a very general way. The rain falls upon the just and the unjust, the saved and the unsaved. His Son shines on the saved and the unsaved. And God feeds, in some degree, the unsaved just like He does the saved. But there is a difference when here is a people that is supposed to be a covenant people who blatantly, openly, publicly, and willingly sin and rebel against God.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Amos chapter 4. Hosea, Joel, Amos. So just a few pages over. I want you to look at Amos chapter 4 and as you do, let me quote Isaiah 3 in verse 1. Listen to what God said in Isaiah 3 in verse 1. The Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole staff of water." What's God saying? You're going to starve? You're going to starve?

[John Weaver] You read in the Bible how many times there was famine in the cities. And when Jerusalem fell, women were killing and cooking and eating their own children. That's what the Bible says. Read it in the book of Lamentations. God said, I'm going to take it away.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you something. Think about this. Why would God continue to give provisions to someone who does not want them, does not appreciate them, do not care for them, with the exception, I'll take them and use them for idols and use them for my sin? Well, look in Amos chapter 4, begin there with verse 6. God said, And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in your cities, and want of bread in all your places.

[John Weaver] Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the LORD? Wow. So there is where God's withholding His provision. Look in verse 7. And I also have withholding the rain from you, when there was yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord?

[John Weaver] So God has sent famine, God has sent drought." Now watch verse nine,"'I have smitten you with blasting and mildew.'" Wow, that will destroy a crop. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the Palmer worm devoured them. Yet if you don't return to me, saith the Lord." Wow! I have shed among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt.

[John Weaver] Your young men have I slain with a sword, and have taken away your horses. I have made the sting of your camps to come up into your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Solomon and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God."

[John Weaver] Now what is he telling us? He is saying that when He departs, He is either going to withhold or diminish our provisions. Do you realize you cannot have the gift without the giver? When the giver leaves, He leaves with His gifts. And rain and fruitful seasons and His blessings in providing for us are all the gifts of God. Let me ask you this. Think about this. If your spouse committed adultery, not just once, but consistently and constantly and ran off and left you, deserted you, Would you continue to support that spouse? Would you say, well, I think I'm going to just give her $5,000 a month anyhow. Really? I wouldn't. I would not even support a child like that. What makes you think that a holy, righteous, sovereign God is going to support a people who hate Him and despise Him and refuse Him? Just like one would cast out an unfaithful spouse, so God likewise will cast out an unfaithful people.

[John Weaver] Look, if you would please, in Hosea 9 and verse 3. Here it is. Black and white. Plain English. Look at it. Hosea 9, verse 3,"...they shall not dwell in the LORD's land." They shall not dwell in the LORD's land. God says, this is My land. I brought you in it. You are despising Me. I'm kicking you out. You are not going to dwell in the LORD's land. That's why He said in verse 17,"...My God shall cast them away." That's why He said in verse 15,"...I will drive them out of mine house." It's not just that they're cast out of His land, they're driven out of His house.

[John Weaver] So we lose His presence, we lose His provision. Thirdly, we lose His protection. Look in verse 6 of Hosea 9. He says,"...For lo, they are gone because of destruction." Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, metals shall possess them, thorns shall be in their tabernacles." Once God judges, and especially He's talking about Israel here, once God judges, He says there's no hope for recovery, there's no hope for return, He said, your secret and your safe places are going to be covered with nettles and thorns. No, here's what He's saying. You're going to die in a strange land. You're going to be dung upon the face of the earth.

[John Weaver] You will not be protected from disease. You will not be protected from destruction. You will not be protected from death. You will die. In fact, we need to learn a very important lesson, and here it is. If God does not protect us, We're not protected. I don't care how many weapons you have, and I don't care how good you are with those weapons, if God does not protect you, you are not protected.

[John Weaver] We can boast that we have the greatest military in the world. The greatest military in the world is nothing if God does not protect us. I think there's a verse that goes something like this. Psalm 127, verse 1,"...Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." So if God does not protect us, we're not protected.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look, if you would, hold Hosea 9, but just look in Jeremiah 8, if you would please. Jeremiah 8, verses 2 and 3. Here's what God says about these wicked individuals. Look at it. Jeremiah 8, verse 2, talking about the bones of the wicked. And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped.

[John Weaver] They shall not be gathered, nor be buried. They shall be fordone upon the face of the earth and death. shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain, of this evil family which remain in all the places which have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts." God said, I'm going to let them die exactly where they are. So, what do we lose when God departs? We lose His presence. We lose His provision. We lose His protection. And one last thing. we lose his prophecy or his preaching. What do I mean?

[John Weaver] Look in your Bibles, Hosea 9, verses 7 and 8. He says, the days of visitation are come. The days of recompense are come. Israel shall know it. And here's how he's going to know it. The prophet is a fool. The spiritual man is mad for the multitude of divine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowl in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God."

[John Weaver] Now, let me spell this out for you in plain old English. Once the Word of God is gone, there is no hope. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is a madman, what hope is there in finding truth? What hope is there in hearing truth? And the prophet himself, according to verse 8, becomes a snare, because he really and truly hates God, and he hates the house of God as well. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is mad, there's no one to teach the truth. There's no one to proclaim the truth. There's no one to declare the truth. Without truth, you cannot have repentance, and you cannot have faith. I think it's Romans 10 verse 17 that says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So if there is no word of God being preached, if there is no word of God being taught, there's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any faith, and that means there's not going to be any hope.

[John Weaver] Let me remind you of two truths. Actually, it's one truth in two parts. You remember when Ahab and Jezebel were upon the throne in Israel. God, of course, was judging Israel, and He sent a drought for three and a half years. And what did God do with Elijah? He took him out of the land. And here a little widow woman sustained him while he was outside of the boundaries of Israel.

[John Weaver] Now, the physical drought was nothing more than a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Because the prophet of God was not there. There was no preaching. There was no declaration. All there was was judgment. And no rain came until God sent the prophet back into the land. So when God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth. When it comes to Jeremiah and Judah and Jerusalem, God did not remove Jeremiah from the land the way He did Elijah. What God did was He left Jeremiah in the land.

[John Weaver] He just shut his mouth. For instance, in Jeremiah 7 and verse 16, here's what God told Jeremiah, pray not for this people. When you get to Jeremiah 11 and verse 14, God told Jeremiah, pray not for this people. Jeremiah really wanted to pray, and he really wanted to pray for his people. So in Jeremiah 14 and verse 11, God said, all right, Jeremiah, you want to pray, I'm going to let you pray for them. But you pray what I tell you to pray. And I'm telling you to pray for their destruction, because that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to destroy them. So God took Elijah out of the land to give a picture of judgment. God left Jeremiah in the land. He just shut his mouth and gave him a picture of judgment. One of the ways that we can really tell that America is under the judgment of God is the fact that there are so few that are really preaching and teaching the Word of God. When the Word of God is not preached, when the Word of God is not taught, there cannot be any repentance or any faith because both come through hearing the Word of God.

[John Weaver] It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes and opens our ears and opens our hearts to receive and understand. But if there is no proclamation of the truth, there is no hope. None whatsoever. You know, we've forgotten that passage in Isaiah. 57, I think it is, verse 1. The Bible says that the righteous man perishes and the merciful man is taken away, none considering that he's taken away from the judgment to come.

[John Weaver] So a lot of times God does remove His preachers. I thought about that yesterday as I was preaching Pastor McCurry's funeral. I have been asked, and it has hit my mind innumerable times, what is going to happen when all of God's preachers are dead and gone, if God does not raise up replacements? I'm just simply saying, when there is no preaching, there is no hope. We've reached the stage in America that is equal to the stage in Israel in 1 Samuel 3 and verse 1. The Bible says in that particular passage, And the child Samuel ministered unto Eli, listen carefully, and the word of God was precious in those days.

[John Weaver] There was no open vision. And the word vision refers to preaching. There was no open preaching. There was no public proclamation of the word of God. What is it that makes something valuable? It's scarcity. That's why gold is more valuable than silver. Silver is more valuable than tin. Diamonds are more valuable than copper. And when the Word of God is rare, when you can really hear it taught and preached and proclaimed in its purity, when that is rare, that is a scarce commodity.

[John Weaver] And it becomes exceedingly precious. And when God departs, listen carefully, He takes His preachers and His preaching with Him. We not only lose His presence, we lose His provision, His protection, and His preaching.

[John Weaver] Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Think about this. If there is no repentance, if there is no return to Scripture, if there is only continual rebellion and disobedience, we had better be saying our goodbyes to God, for He will withdraw Himself. He will depart. And he will do exactly as he did in Hosea chapter 9. One more. I want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I want you to see this because it is so plainly stated in this passage. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. If you are not saved, if you refuse to listen to the truth, and you refuse to hear and heed the truth, and if you have no desire whatsoever for truth, and you have no desire for righteousness and holiness, then you had better say your goodbye to God. Why? Watch this. 2 Thessalonians 1 beginning there with verse 6.

[John Weaver] Seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, here it is, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." So, the great judgment. according to verse 9, is to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.

[John Weaver] So those who hate Him need to say goodbye while they can, because once He banishes them, it is for eternity. I'm telling you, folks, the greatest punishment that can befall any people In a society, in a nation, it's when God leaves us alone. When He leaves us to ourselves, when He departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, that is the worst judgment. that can be flawless, because the only thing left is death and destruction. Have you said your goodbyes to God? If there is no repentance, He will withdraw Himself.

[John Weaver] Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to You this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You for Your warnings, Lord. And Father, we do not want to lose Your presence, nor Your provision or protection or Your preaching. We want Thee, Lord. And we ask for repentance and faith, not just as individuals, Lord, but as families, as a church, as a society, as a nation. Thank you, Father, for all that you've done in manifesting yourself. We understand that Jesus Christ is the greatest manifestation of God. He is God in the flesh. and to reject Him is to reject Thee. We thank Thee for Your provision, for Your protection, for the preaching and teaching of Your Word. Give us grace, Lord, that we may repent and believe Thee and serve Thee and honor Thee in every area and aspect of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	121619134550677
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-12-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 081: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 1 — Chapter 21
Source Timed Segments	71

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Pain of Goodbyes and God’s Departure

Weaver contrasts human goodbyes with God casting out His unfaithful covenant people in Hosea 9, where He sends them away, casts them out, and departs from them.

Hosea chapter 9, and I want to take the time to read the entire chapter, all 17 verses. Hosea 9, the title of the message is, "Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?" Have you said your goodbyes to God? Look in the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea. Hosea chapter 9, beginning there with verse 1,

Scripture Reading — Hosea 9:1-17

"Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God. Thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the LORD?" "For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all of his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore he will remember their iniquity, and he will visit their sins. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness." "I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves into that shame, and their abominations were according as they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them that there shall not be a man left." "Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. Give them, O Lord, what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying wound and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them. For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house."

"I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up. They shall bear no fruit, yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him, that they shall be wanderers among the nations." The title is, as I said, "Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?" I found it interesting and amusing that we often teach our children how to say bye-bye. The smallest child usually can wave and say bye-bye, and every parent is delighted when the little child can do that. And they always like to demonstrate it and show it to you as well. I remember our two oldest grandchildren, who are now 31 years of age, when they were about two, Alice and I took them to the store because they wanted cow boots. They couldn't even say cowboy boots. And so our plan was we were going to take them to the store. We were going to try on those boots and then we were going to come back later and buy them because we really didn't have—I had 20 bucks is what I had and we needed some groceries. So, we put the boots on them and let them walk around a little bit and Alice took them back off, put them in the box and we kind of marked them and put them in a special place so we could come back and pick them up a little bit later.

And as I picked Casey up, Alice picked Renee up, and we were walking out of the store, and Casey looked back at those boots, and he said, "Bye-bye, cow boots." And I told Alice, I said, "Get them. We'll go hungry. Don't worry about it," you know. And if he had pitched a fit, he would have never, ever gotten those boots, plus he had gotten a spanking as well, but it was that little voice that was so, you know, pathetic. He really wanted those cow boots. Well, I usually use this as an illustration because I'll pass an outlet store or a shopping center or a store where Alice shops and I have absolutely no intention of stopping and as I pass by I'll look at Alice and say, "Bye-bye, outlet center," you know, because I'm not about to stop.

But leaving family and friends is a very difficult task. I've been hugged and kissed and embraced numerous times by family and friends who are leaving. And I've done the same thing myself. Just yesterday as we left Pastor McCurry's funeral, I don't know, we hugged the family members three or four, five times before we ever left, and they did the same to us. And so it's very difficult when you have close friends and good family. And oftentimes when they drive off, you're standing there waving until they're totally and completely out of sight. But when you stop and think about that, there are some people that you really like to see come, but you're sometimes more delighted to see them leave as well. And there's a very pertinent verse concerning that in the Bible. Proverbs chapter 25 verse 17, the Bible says, "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house, lest he grow weary of thee and so hate thee." So the ideal according to the scripture is this, there is a time to visit and there's a time to leave. And you need to leave when you're always welcome to come back. And so you want to leave as a welcomed guest.

Now, the reason I'm saying all of that is when you look at Hosea chapter 9, God is casting out an unwelcomed guest, and that unwelcome guest happens to be His own covenant people. They have forsaken Him, and now He is forsaking them. They have abused and misused and perverted and rejected Him and His graciousness and His person as a host and provider, and now He's going to send them away. And He does not just simply send them away. He also casts them out. And He not only casts them out, the Bible tells us, He also departs from them. Look, if you would, at verse 12. He says, "...though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left. Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them." Then look in verse 15, "...all their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their doing I will drive them out of mine house."

God’s Warning and the Consequences of Forsaking Him

Israel was warned in Deuteronomy that forsaking God would lead to His forsaking them, hiding His face, and bringing destruction.

Now, Israel had been warned. God specifically told them in advance that if they forsook Him, that He would forsake them. If you would hold the book of Hosea chapter 9, turn back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, and look if you would please at chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31, and we'll begin reading there with verse 16. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16, and we'll read through verse 18. Watch this. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whether they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then mine anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?"

Look what God says in verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods."

Then if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and verse 20, Deuteronomy 32 and verse 20, he says this again.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."

Now, I want you to look at verse 20. He said, "I will hide my face from them, and I will see what their end shall be." Let me just kind of paraphrase this for you. God said, "I'm going to hide Myself from you. I'm going to withdraw. I'm going to depart. And I'll just see what your end's going to be. I'll see how you fare without Me, without My blessings." In other words, He knows that they're going to be destroyed. So He's just saying, "You've departed from Me, now I'm going to depart from you." I suppose that one of the greatest judgments that an individual, a family, a church, a society, a people, a nation could ever face is when God leaves us alone. Here's my question. Have you ever really considered the implications of when God departs from us? Have you ever considered the implications when God casts us off and casts us out? So here is the general question. When God departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, what do we lose?

Losing God’s Manifest Presence

Though God is omnipresent, His manifest presence can be lost, as seen in Jonah fleeing the temple and the patriarchs building altars only where God revealed Himself. In the New Testament, the church is the place of peculiar manifestation.

I'm going to give you four things. I want you to listen. First of all, we lose His presence. Very obviously, if God withdraws Himself, if God departs, we lose His presence. So if Gary got up and walked out of this room and never came back, we would have lost His presence. He would no longer be among us. Okay? So obviously, when God departs, we lose His presence. Now, I can hear a question arising in your minds, and you're going to say, "But listen, I know that God is omnipresent. If God is omnipresent, how can I lose His presence?" Well, first of all, let me explain omnipresence, okay?

Because sometimes there's confusion concerning that. A lot of people try to think that part of God is in China, part in Africa, part in Mongolia, part over here in the United States, part over here in the United Kingdom, and you put all these parts together and you end up with one God. No, that is pure heresy. The presence of God means that God is everywhere at one time in the totality of His person. There is never a place where God is not in the totality of His person. So let me explain the omnipresence of God before I explain how we lose His presence.

So if you will turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. In this Psalm, you're going to see not only the omnipresence of God, but you're also going to see the omniscience of God. Now, God's omniscience means that He is all-knowing. There is not one thing that God does not know. He is omniscient. Notice, if you would, Psalm 139, verse 1. David says, "O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me." Now look at verse 2, "Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising." You know when I sit down, you know when I get up. "Thou understandest my thought afar off." Did you know in the book of Ezekiel, God says, "I know thy thoughts, every one of them, before they enter into your mind." So, God even knows our thoughts before we even think them. So He says, verse 3, "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether."

"Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto it." So the first six verses deals with God's omniscience. Verses 7-12 deals with God's omnipresence. Watch at verse 7. He asks this question, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there."

"If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike unto Thee."

So what he's saying is, look, I can't get away from God. God isn't only omniscient, God is omnipresent. So if God is omnipresent, how do we lose His presence? Listen carefully. What we lose is His manifest presence. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jonah. Hosea, Joel, Amos, and then Jonah. Look, if you would, Jonah chapter 1. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Watch this carefully. Jonah chapter 1, verse 1. "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. And he went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." Now skip down to verse 10.

"Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them." Now how can Jonah flee from the presence of the Lord if God is omnipresent? He was fleeing from the temple where God peculiarly and particularly manifested Himself. He was getting away from the temple.

Now, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, the patriarchs did not just simply go around building altars. The patriarchs built altars only on two occasions. Number one, when God commanded an altar to be built, or number two, where God had particularly and peculiarly revealed Himself. So, if you look in your Bibles holding Hosea, if you would, go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 13. And let's begin reading there with verse 13. And notice what the Bible says concerning Abram. Notice Genesis chapter 13, and we'll begin reading there with verse 13.

Scripture Reading — Genesis 13:14-18

"But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Verse 14, And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. Note now, for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Arise, walk through the land, and the length of it, and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord."

God had revealed Himself. God had manifested Himself.

And so now He builds an altar. Look in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 9, because now God has told him to go offer his son, his only son Isaac. And look, if you would please, at verse 9,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 22:9

"And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abram built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood."

In other words, God ordained this altar and so, obviously, he built it in obedience to God. If you look in Genesis chapter 35 and verse 7, you'll remember how that Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau. And of course, he laid down and then God revealed Himself to Jacob. And in verse 7, the Bible says this, "And He built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel, the house of God. Because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother."

So, you didn't just go around building an altar anywhere you wanted to build an altar. You had to build where God either commanded or where God appeared in a particular way. Now, Moses built one in Exodus 17, verse 15. Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi. But that was where God sovereignly, powerfully, and providentially delivered them from their enemies as well. So, while it is clearly and obviously truthful that God is omnipresent, it is also clearly and obviously truthful and evident that there are places and there have been places in the Old Testament where God particularly and peculiarly manifested Himself. You remember, and we are going to say the tabernacle and the temple particularly, because the Shekinah glory came down. You remember that? The question then has to be asked, is there a place in the New Testament where God peculiarly and particularly reveals Himself?

And the answer is yes. Well, where would that be? It happens to be the church. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 18, we shall begin reading with verse 15 and read through verse 20. Notice if you would, please, Matthew 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 15. Look what he says, and please note the context. "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." Now watch, "...and if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let it be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." Now we're talking about the church.

"Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again I say unto you, that if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." So, this context has to do with church discipline, and it has to do with two or three gathering together in His name, even exercising church discipline.

So, there is a peculiar and a particular place in the New Testament where God reveals and manifests Himself just like there was in the Old Testament. Now, when God casts away a people, there is no longer a manifest presence of God. The only thing that is left is coldness, emptiness, and death. God cannot be found when He departs.

Losing God’s Provision

When God departs, He withholds material blessings such as food and fruitful seasons, as seen in Hosea 9:2,6 and Amos 4, because a rebellious people do not deserve His gifts.

We lose His presence, His manifest presence when God departs. That's not all. If you look back in Hosea chapter 9, we also lose His provision. Look, if you would please, at verse 2. He says, "...the floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." In other words, whatever you have stocked up, the grain floor, it's not going to feed you. The winepress is not going to satisfy you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 6.

He says, "...for lo, they are gone, because of the destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles." In other words, all of their gardens and everything else that would be precious is now nothing more than thorns and nettles. Let me ask you a question. Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him? I want you to hold Hosea, but I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, back to Jeremiah chapter 5. Jeremiah chapter 5. And notice, if you would please, let's begin reading there with verse 7. You see, here's what we do. We take everything that God gives us and we abuse it and pervert it and misuse it. So, Jeremiah 5, look in verse 7. Look at the question God asks, "How shall I pardon thee for this?"

"Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. Now watch. When I fed them to the full, that is, when I provided for them, when I gave them everything they needed, everything they wanted, when I fed them to the full, what did they do? Then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning." "Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Skip down to verse 21. Look at it. Verse 21, "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not. Fear you not me, saith the Lord? Will you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people have a revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone, neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season."

"He reserveth and doth the appointed weeks of harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, the rain, the harvest, and your sins have withholden good things from you." Now, let me tell you something. I know that the Bible tells us that God is gracious and kind, and that God blesses the just and the unjust alike in a very general way. The rain falls upon the just and the unjust, the saved and the unsaved. His sun shines on the saved and the unsaved. And God feeds, in some degree, the unsaved just like He does the saved. But there is a difference when here is a people that is supposed to be a covenant people who blatantly, openly, publicly, and willingly sin and rebel against God.

Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Amos chapter 4. Hosea, Joel, Amos. So just a few pages over. I want you to look at Amos chapter 4 and as you do, let me quote Isaiah 3 in verse 1. Listen to what God said in Isaiah 3 in verse 1.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1

"The Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole staff of water."

What's God saying? You're going to starve? You're going to starve?

You read in the Bible how many times there was famine in the cities. And when Jerusalem fell, women were killing and cooking and eating their own children. That's what the Bible says. Read it in the book of Lamentations. God said, "I'm going to take it away."

Now, let me show you something. Think about this. Why would God continue to give provisions to someone who does not want them, does not appreciate them, do not care for them, with the exception, I'll take them and use them for idols and use them for my sin? Well, look in Amos chapter 4, begin there with verse 6. God said,

Scripture Reading — Amos 4:6-12

"And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in your cities, and want of bread in all your places." "Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the LORD?"

Wow. So there is where God's withholding His provision. Look in verse 7.

Scripture Reading — Amos 4:6-12

"And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there was yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord?"

So God has sent famine, God has sent drought. Now watch verse nine, "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew." Wow, that will destroy a crop. "When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Wow! "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt." "Your young men have I slain with a sword, and have taken away your horses. I have made the stink of your camps to come up into your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God."

Now what is he telling us? He is saying that when He departs, He is either going to withhold or diminish our provisions. Do you realize you cannot have the gift without the giver? When the giver leaves, He leaves with His gifts. And rain and fruitful seasons and His blessings in providing for us are all the gifts of God. Let me ask you this. Think about this. If your spouse committed adultery, not just once, but consistently and constantly and ran off and left you, deserted you, would you continue to support that spouse? Would you say, "Well, I think I'm going to just give her $5,000 a month anyhow"? Really? I wouldn't. I would not even support a child like that. What makes you think that a holy, righteous, sovereign God is going to support a people who hate Him and despise Him and refuse Him? Just like one would cast out an unfaithful spouse, so God likewise will cast out an unfaithful people.

Look, if you would please, in Hosea 9 and verse 3. Here it is. Black and white. Plain English. Look at it. Hosea 9, verse 3, "...they shall not dwell in the LORD's land." They shall not dwell in the LORD's land. God says, "This is My land. I brought you in it. You are despising Me. I'm kicking you out. You are not going to dwell in the LORD's land." That's why He said in verse 17, "...My God shall cast them away." That's why He said in verse 15, "...I will drive them out of mine house." It's not just that they're cast out of His land, they're driven out of His house.

Losing God’s Protection

Without God’s protection, no human defenses can save; the wicked will die in a strange land and become dung on the earth, as described in Hosea 9:6 and Jeremiah 8:2-3.

So we lose His presence, we lose His provision. Thirdly, we lose His protection. Look in verse 6 of Hosea 9. He says, "...For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, thorns shall be in their tabernacles." Once God judges, and especially He's talking about Israel here, once God judges, He says there's no hope for recovery, there's no hope for return. He said, "Your secret and your safe places are going to be covered with nettles and thorns." No, here's what He's saying. You're going to die in a strange land. You're going to be dung upon the face of the earth.

You will not be protected from disease. You will not be protected from destruction. You will not be protected from death. You will die. In fact, we need to learn a very important lesson, and here it is. If God does not protect us, we're not protected. I don't care how many weapons you have, and I don't care how good you are with those weapons, if God does not protect you, you are not protected.

We can boast that we have the greatest military in the world. The greatest military in the world is nothing if God does not protect us. I think there's a verse that goes something like this. Psalm 127, verse 1, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." So if God does not protect us, we're not protected.

Now, I want you to look, if you would, hold Hosea 9, but just look in Jeremiah 8, if you would please. Jeremiah 8, verses 2 and 3. Here's what God says about these wicked individuals. Look at it. Jeremiah 8, verse 2, talking about the bones of the wicked. "And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped." "They shall not be gathered, nor be buried. They shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain, of this evil family which remain in all the places which have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts." God said, "I'm going to let them die exactly where they are." So, what do we lose when God departs? We lose His presence. We lose His provision. We lose His protection. And one last thing. We lose His prophecy or His preaching. What do I mean?

Losing God’s Prophecy and Preaching

When God departs, He removes true preachers or silences them, leaving no hope for repentance or faith, as illustrated by Elijah’s removal and Jeremiah’s silenced mouth.

Look in your Bibles, Hosea 9, verses 7 and 8. He says, "The days of visitation are come. The days of recompense are come. Israel shall know it." And here's how he's going to know it. "The prophet is a fool. The spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God."

Now, let me spell this out for you in plain old English. Once the Word of God is gone, there is no hope. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is a madman, what hope is there in finding truth? What hope is there in hearing truth? And the prophet himself, according to verse 8, becomes a snare, because he really and truly hates God, and he hates the house of God as well. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is mad, there's no one to teach the truth. There's no one to proclaim the truth. There's no one to declare the truth. Without truth, you cannot have repentance, and you cannot have faith. I think it's Romans 10 verse 17 that says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." So if there is no word of God being preached, if there is no word of God being taught, there's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any faith, and that means there's not going to be any hope.

Let me remind you of two truths. Actually, it's one truth in two parts. You remember when Ahab and Jezebel were upon the throne in Israel. God, of course, was judging Israel, and He sent a drought for three and a half years. And what did God do with Elijah? He took him out of the land. And here a little widow woman sustained him while he was outside of the boundaries of Israel.

Now, the physical drought was nothing more than a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Because the prophet of God was not there. There was no preaching. There was no declaration. All there was was judgment. And no rain came until God sent the prophet back into the land. So when God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth. When it comes to Jeremiah and Judah and Jerusalem, God did not remove Jeremiah from the land the way He did Elijah. What God did was He left Jeremiah in the land.

He just shut his mouth. For instance, in Jeremiah 7 and verse 16, here's what God told Jeremiah, "Pray not for this people." When you get to Jeremiah 11 and verse 14, God told Jeremiah, "Pray not for this people." Jeremiah really wanted to pray, and he really wanted to pray for his people. So in Jeremiah 14 and verse 11, God said, "All right, Jeremiah, you want to pray, I'm going to let you pray for them. But you pray what I tell you to pray. And I'm telling you to pray for their destruction, because that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to destroy them." So God took Elijah out of the land to give a picture of judgment. God left Jeremiah in the land. He just shut his mouth and gave him a picture of judgment. One of the ways that we can really tell that America is under the judgment of God is the fact that there are so few that are really preaching and teaching the Word of God. When the Word of God is not preached, when the Word of God is not taught, there cannot be any repentance or any faith because both come through hearing the Word of God.

It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes and opens our ears and opens our hearts to receive and understand. But if there is no proclamation of the truth, there is no hope. None whatsoever. You know, we've forgotten that passage in Isaiah 57, I think it is, verse 1. The Bible says that the righteous man perishes and the merciful man is taken away, none considering that he's taken away from the judgment to come.

So a lot of times God does remove His preachers. I thought about that yesterday as I was preaching Pastor McCurry's funeral. I have been asked, and it has hit my mind innumerable times, what is going to happen when all of God's preachers are dead and gone, if God does not raise up replacements? I'm just simply saying, when there is no preaching, there is no hope. We've reached the stage in America that is equal to the stage in Israel in 1 Samuel 3 and verse 1. The Bible says in that particular passage, "And the child Samuel ministered unto Eli," listen carefully, "and the word of God was precious in those days."

There was no open vision. And the word vision refers to preaching. There was no open preaching. There was no public proclamation of the word of God. What is it that makes something valuable? It's scarcity. That's why gold is more valuable than silver. Silver is more valuable than tin. Diamonds are more valuable than copper. And when the Word of God is rare, when you can really hear it taught and preached and proclaimed in its purity, when that is rare, that is a scarce commodity.

And it becomes exceedingly precious. And when God departs, listen carefully, He takes His preachers and His preaching with Him. We not only lose His presence, we lose His provision, His protection, and His preaching.

Applications: Saying Goodbye to God

If there is no repentance, God will withdraw; the unsaved face everlasting destruction from His presence. The greatest judgment is when God leaves us alone.

Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Think about this. If there is no repentance, if there is no return to Scripture, if there is only continual rebellion and disobedience, we had better be saying our goodbyes to God, for He will withdraw Himself. He will depart. And He will do exactly as He did in Hosea chapter 9. One more. I want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I want you to see this because it is so plainly stated in this passage. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. If you are not saved, if you refuse to listen to the truth, and you refuse to hear and heed the truth, and if you have no desire whatsoever for truth, and you have no desire for righteousness and holiness, then you had better say your goodbye to God. Why? Watch this. 2 Thessalonians 1 beginning there with verse 6.

"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," here it is, "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." So, the great judgment, according to verse 9, is to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. So those who hate Him need to say goodbye while they can, because once He banishes them, it is for eternity. I'm telling you, folks, the greatest punishment that can befall any people in a society, in a nation, it's when God leaves us alone. When He leaves us to ourselves, when He departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, that is the worst judgment that can befall us, because the only thing left is death and destruction. Have you said your goodbyes to God? If there is no repentance, He will withdraw Himself.

Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to You this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You for Your warnings, Lord. And Father, we do not want to lose Your presence, nor Your provision or protection or Your preaching. We want Thee, Lord. And we ask for repentance and faith, not just as individuals, Lord, but as families, as a church, as a society, as a nation. Thank you, Father, for all that you've done in manifesting yourself. We understand that Jesus Christ is the greatest manifestation of God. He is God in the flesh, and to reject Him is to reject Thee. We thank Thee for Your provision, for Your protection, for the preaching and teaching of Your Word. Give us grace, Lord, that we may repent and believe Thee and serve Thee and honor Thee in every area and aspect of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God’s Departure as Judgment

Summary: The ultimate judgment for persistent rebellion is God withdrawing His presence, provision, protection, and preaching, leaving only death and destruction.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'When God departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, what do we lose? ... we lose His presence... provision... protection... prophecy or His preaching.'

The Necessity of Repentance

Summary: Without repentance and return to Scripture, God will depart; individuals and nations must repent to avoid being cast away.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'If there is no repentance, if there is no return to Scripture, if there is only continual rebellion and disobedience, we had better be saying our goodbyes to God, for He will withdraw Himself.'

The Loss of God’s Manifest Presence

Summary: While God is omnipresent, His manifest presence can be lost, leading to coldness and emptiness in churches and lives.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'What we lose is His manifest presence... When God casts away a people, there is no longer a manifest presence of God. The only thing that is left is coldness, emptiness, and death.'

The Scarcity of True Preaching

Summary: When God departs, He removes true preachers or silences them, making the Word of God rare and precious, and leaving no hope for faith or repentance.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'When the Word of God is rare... that is a scarce commodity... when God departs, He takes His preachers and His preaching with Him.'

Key Arguments

God’s departure is the foundation and completion of Israel’s misery

Summary: Hosea 9 shows that God’s departure is the last step in their misery and the loss of all hope, as He casts them out and departs from them.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope.'

God warned Israel that forsaking Him would lead to His forsaking them

Summary: Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and 32:20 show that God explicitly warned He would hide His face and bring evils upon them if they turned to other gods.

Evidence: Weaver reads Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and 32:20, emphasizing God’s warning: 'I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be.'

Losing God’s provision is a direct consequence of rebellion

Summary: Hosea 9:2-6 and Amos 4 show that God withholds food, rain, and fruitful seasons when people use His gifts for sin and refuse to return to Him.

Evidence: Weaver cites Hosea 9:2,6 and Amos 4:6-12, stating, 'Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?'

Without God’s protection, no human defense can save

Summary: Psalm 127:1 and Jeremiah 8:2-3 illustrate that if God does not protect, even the greatest military is useless, and the wicked will die unburied.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Psalm 127:1 and Jeremiah 8:2-3, saying, 'If God does not protect us, we're not protected.'

The removal of true preaching signals judgment and leaves no hope

Summary: When God removes or silences preachers, as with Elijah and Jeremiah, there is no proclamation of truth, making repentance and faith impossible.

Evidence: Weaver explains, 'When God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth.'

Everlasting destruction is separation from God’s presence

Summary: 2 Thessalonians 1:9 teaches that the ultimate punishment for those who reject the gospel is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.

Evidence: Weaver reads 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, emphasizing 'punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.'

Scripture References

Hosea 9:1-17

Context: The entire chapter is read as the primary text, describing God’s judgment on Israel for their whoredom and rebellion.

Proverbs 25:17

Context: Cited to illustrate the wisdom of leaving before overstaying a welcome, contrasting with God casting out unwelcome guests.

Hosea 7:13-16

Context: Read to show that Israel fled from God and rebelled despite His redemption and provision.

Deuteronomy 31:16-18

Context: God’s warning to Moses that Israel would forsake Him and He would hide His face and bring evils upon them.

Deuteronomy 32:20

Context: God declares He will hide His face and see their end because they are a froward generation.

Psalm 139:1-12

Context: Used to explain God’s omniscience and omnipresence, showing He is everywhere in His totality.

Jonah 1:1-3, 10

Context: Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, meaning the temple where God manifested Himself, illustrating loss of manifest presence.

Genesis 13:14-18

Context: Abram built an altar where God revealed Himself, showing altars were built only at places of divine manifestation.

Genesis 22:9

Context: Abram built an altar in obedience to God’s command to offer Isaac.

Genesis 35:7

Context: Jacob built an altar at Bethel because God appeared to him there.

Exodus 17:15

Context: Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi after God’s deliverance.

Matthew 18:15-20

Context: Jesus promises His presence where two or three gather in His name, indicating the church as a place of peculiar manifestation.

Proverbs 1:28

Context: Quoted to show that when God departs, people will call but He will not answer.

Hosea 5:6

Context: They will seek the Lord but not find Him because He has withdrawn.

John 7:34; 8:21

Context: Jesus tells the Pharisees they will seek Him and not find Him, and die in their sins.

Hosea 9:4-5

Context: Their offerings will not be pleasing to the Lord; He asks what they will do in the solemn day.

Acts 3:6

Context: Peter’s healing of the lame man demonstrates the power and presence of God that is missing in many churches today.

Jeremiah 5:7-8, 21-25

Context: God questions how He can pardon a people who use His provision for adultery and whose sins withhold good things.

Isaiah 3:1

Context: Quoted to show God takes away the whole stay of bread and water.

Amos 4:6-12

Context: God recounts sending famine, drought, blight, pestilence, and overthrow, yet Israel did not return; therefore prepare to meet God.

Historical References

Pastor McCurry’s funeral

Context: Weaver mentions attending the funeral the previous day and hugging family members multiple times before leaving.

Ahab and Jezebel’s reign and Elijah’s drought

Context: God sent a three-and-a-half-year drought and removed Elijah from Israel as a picture of judgment.

Jeremiah’s ministry during Jerusalem’s fall

Context: God left Jeremiah in the land but shut his mouth, commanding him not to pray for the people.

Important Quotes

When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope.

Significance: Summarizes the central message that God’s departure is the ultimate judgment, removing all hope.

What we lose is His manifest presence.

Significance: Clarifies that while God is omnipresent, His special, experienced presence can be withdrawn.

Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?

Significance: Rhetorical question emphasizing that God’s provision is not owed to rebels.

If God does not protect us, we're not protected.

Significance: Stark statement that human defenses are worthless without divine protection.

When God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth.

Significance: Links the absence of true preaching to divine judgment and hopelessness.

When the Word of God is rare, when you can really hear it taught and preached and proclaimed in its purity, when that is rare, that is a scarce commodity.

Significance: Highlights the preciousness of true preaching in a time of scarcity.

The greatest punishment that can befall any people in a society, in a nation, it's when God leaves us alone.

Significance: Culminating warning that divine abandonment is the worst possible judgment.

Discussion Questions

What does it mean for God to 'depart' from a people, and how does this relate to His omnipresence?

Context: Weaver explains that God’s manifest presence can be lost even though He is everywhere.

In what ways might we be taking God’s provision for granted, and how should we respond to avoid His withdrawal?

Context: The sermon warns that God withholds provision from those who misuse His gifts.

How can we discern whether the scarcity of true preaching in our day is a sign of God’s judgment?

Context: Weaver connects the removal of preachers to judgment, citing 1 Samuel 3:1.

What practical steps can individuals and churches take to seek God’s manifest presence and avoid spiritual coldness?

Context: The loss of God’s presence leads to cold, calloused churches; repentance is urged.

How does the warning of everlasting destruction from God’s presence in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 motivate evangelism and personal holiness?

Context: The sermon applies the message to the unsaved, emphasizing eternal separation.

Applications

Repent and return to Scripture to avoid God’s departure

Summary: If there is no repentance and return to Scripture, God will withdraw; individuals and nations must repent.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'If there is no repentance, if there is no return to Scripture, if there is only continual rebellion and disobedience, we had better be saying our goodbyes to God.'

Recognize the danger of losing God’s manifest presence

Summary: Churches today are cold and powerless because God’s presence has departed; we must seek His presence earnestly.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'We have never really stopped to consider the implications of the departure of God from a people... we no longer have the power and the presence of God.'

Do not presume on God’s provision while living in rebellion

Summary: God withholds provision from those who hate Him; we must not expect His blessings while disobeying Him.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?'

Value and support true preaching of God’s Word

Summary: When true preaching is rare, it is precious; we must treasure and uphold it, recognizing it as essential for faith and repentance.

Evidence: Weaver notes, 'When the Word of God is rare... that is a scarce commodity... when God departs, He takes His preachers and His preaching with Him.'

Urgently warn the unsaved of eternal separation from God

Summary: Those who reject the gospel face everlasting destruction from God’s presence; they must be called to repentance while there is time.

Evidence: Weaver reads 2 Thessalonians 1:9 and says, 'Those who hate Him need to say goodbye while they can, because once He banishes them, it is for eternity.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:56:49Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:48:52Z

Clean Transcript

Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

Hosea chapter 9, and I want to take the time to read the entire chapter, all 17 verses. Hosea 9, the title of the message is, "Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?" Have you said your goodbyes to God? Look in the book of Hosea, Daniel, Hosea. Hosea chapter 9, beginning there with verse 1, "Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God. Thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her."
#1 | 0:01 to 0:50 | cleaned
"They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the LORD?"
#2 | 0:51 to 1:20 | cleaned
"For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all of his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore he will remember their iniquity, and he will visit their sins. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness."
#3 | 1:20 to 2:07 | cleaned
"I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves into that shame, and their abominations were according as they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them that there shall not be a man left."
#4 | 2:07 to 2:33 | cleaned
"Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. Give them, O Lord, what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying wound and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them. For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house."
#5 | 2:33 to 2:58 | cleaned
"I will love them no more. All their princes are revolters. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up. They shall bear no fruit, yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him, that they shall be wanderers among the nations." The title is, as I said, "Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?"
#6 | 2:59 to 3:25 | cleaned
I found it interesting and amusing that we often teach our children how to say bye-bye. The smallest child usually can wave and say bye-bye, and every parent is delighted when the little child can do that. And they always like to demonstrate it and show it to you as well. I remember our two oldest grandchildren, who are now 31 years of age, when they were about two, Alice and I took them to the store because they wanted cow boots. They couldn't even say cowboy boots. And so our plan was we were going to take them to the store. We were going to try on those boots and then we were going to come back later and buy them because we really didn't have—I had 20 bucks is what I had and we needed some groceries. So, we put the boots on them and let them walk around a little bit and Alice took them back off, put them in the box and we kind of marked them and put them in a special place so we could come back and pick them up a little bit later.
#7 | 3:26 to 4:36 | cleaned
And as I picked Casey up, Alice picked Renee up, and we were walking out of the store, and Casey looked back at those boots, and he said, "Bye-bye, cow boots." And I told Alice, I said, "Get them. We'll go hungry. Don't worry about it," you know. And if he had pitched a fit, he would have never, ever gotten those boots, plus he had gotten a spanking as well, but it was that little voice that was so, you know, pathetic. He really wanted those cow boots. Well, I usually use this as an illustration because I'll pass an outlet store or a shopping center or a store where Alice shops and I have absolutely no intention of stopping and as I pass by I'll look at Alice and say, "Bye-bye, outlet center," you know, because I'm not about to stop.
#8 | 4:37 to 5:37 | cleaned
But leaving family and friends is a very difficult task. I've been hugged and kissed and embraced numerous times by family and friends who are leaving. And I've done the same thing myself. Just yesterday as we left Pastor McCurry's funeral, I don't know, we hugged the family members three or four, five times before we ever left, and they did the same to us. And so it's very difficult when you have close friends and good family.
#9 | 5:37 to 6:06 | cleaned
And oftentimes when they drive off, you're standing there waving until they're totally and completely out of sight. But when you stop and think about that, there are some people that you really like to see come, but you're sometimes more delighted to see them leave as well. And there's a very pertinent verse concerning that in the Bible. Proverbs chapter 25 verse 17, the Bible says, "Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house, lest he grow weary of thee and so hate thee." So the ideal according to the scripture is this, there is a time to visit and there's a time to leave. And you need to leave when you're always welcome to come back. And so you want to leave as a welcomed guest.
#10 | 6:06 to 6:52 | cleaned
Now, the reason I'm saying all of that is when you look at Hosea chapter 9, God is casting out an unwelcomed guest, and that unwelcome guest happens to be His own covenant people. They have forsaken Him, and now He is forsaking them. They have abused and misused and perverted and rejected Him and His graciousness and His person as a host and provider, and now He's going to send them away. And He does not just simply send them away.
#11 | 6:52 to 7:29 | cleaned
He also casts them out. And He not only casts them out, the Bible tells us, He also departs from them. Look, if you would, at verse 12. He says, "...though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left. Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them." Then look in verse 15, "...all their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their doing I will drive them out of mine house."
#12 | 7:30 to 8:01 | cleaned
"I will love them no more, all their princes are revolters." And then look in verse 17, "...My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto Him." Have you ever really thought about, or have you ever really considered what it is like to be cast away from God and His graciousness? Have you ever considered what it would be like in a society, in a nation, when God totally forsakes the people and forsakes the nation and departs from them?
#13 | 8:03 to 8:38 | cleaned
When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope. They had departed from God, and now God is departing from them. If you would hold Hosea 9, but look back to Hosea 7, and let's begin reading there with verse 13. Hosea 7 and verse 13. Look what God says, "...Woe unto them, for they have fled from Me."
#14 | 8:39 to 9:14 | cleaned
"Destruction unto them, because they have transgressed against Me. Though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against Me. And they have not cried unto Me with their heart when they howled upon their beds. They assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against Me. Though I abound and strengthen their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against Me. They return, but not to the Most High."
#15 | 9:15 to 9:42 | cleaned
"They are like a deceitful bow. Their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt."
#16 | 9:43 to 9:52 | cleaned
Now, Israel had been warned. God specifically told them in advance that if they forsook Him, that He would forsake them. If you would hold the book of Hosea chapter 9, turn back in your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy, and look if you would please at chapter 31. Deuteronomy chapter 31, and we'll begin reading there with verse 16. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16, and we'll read through verse 18. Watch this. Deuteronomy 31, verse 16.
#17 | 9:53 to 10:28 | cleaned
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whether they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then mine anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?" Look what God says in verse 18, "And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods." Then if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and verse 20, Deuteronomy 32 and verse 20, he says this again. "And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."
#18 | 10:31 to 11:44 | cleaned
Now, I want you to look at verse 20. He said, "I will hide my face from them, and I will see what their end shall be." Let me just kind of paraphrase this for you. God said, "I'm going to hide Myself from you. I'm going to withdraw. I'm going to depart. And I'll just see what your end's going to be. I'll see how you fare without Me, without My blessings." In other words, He knows that they're going to be destroyed. So He's just saying, "You've departed from Me, now I'm going to depart from you." I suppose that one of the greatest judgments that an individual, a family, a church, a society, a people, a nation could ever face is when God leaves us alone. Here's my question. Have you ever really considered the implications of when God departs from us? Have you ever considered the implications when God casts us off and casts us out? So here is the general question. When God departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, what do we lose?
#19 | 11:45 to 13:06 | cleaned
I'm going to give you four things. I want you to listen. First of all, we lose His presence. Very obviously, if God withdraws Himself, if God departs, we lose His presence. So if Gary got up and walked out of this room and never came back, we would have lost His presence. He would no longer be among us. Okay? So obviously, when God departs, we lose His presence. Now, I can hear a question arising in your minds, and you're going to say, "But listen, I know that God is omnipresent. If God is omnipresent, how can I lose His presence?" Well, first of all, let me explain omnipresence, okay?
#20 | 13:08 to 14:00 | cleaned
Because sometimes there's confusion concerning that. A lot of people try to think that part of God is in China, part in Africa, part in Mongolia, part over here in the United States, part over here in the United Kingdom, and you put all these parts together and you end up with one God. No, that is pure heresy. The presence of God means that God is everywhere at one time in the totality of His person. There is never a place where God is not in the totality of His person. So let me explain the omnipresence of God before I explain how we lose His presence.
#21 | 14:01 to 14:46 | cleaned
So if you will turn in your Bibles to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. In this Psalm, you're going to see not only the omnipresence of God, but you're also going to see the omniscience of God. Now, God's omniscience means that He is all-knowing. There is not one thing that God does not know. He is omniscient. Notice, if you would, Psalm 139, verse 1. David says, "O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me." Now look at verse 2, "Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising." You know when I sit down, you know when I get up. "Thou understandest my thought afar off." Did you know in the book of Ezekiel, God says, "I know thy thoughts, every one of them, before they enter into your mind." So, God even knows our thoughts before we even think them. So He says, verse 3, "Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether."
#22 | 14:46 to 16:00 | cleaned
"Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto it." So the first six verses deals with God's omniscience. Verses 7-12 deals with God's omnipresence. Watch at verse 7. He asks this question, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there."
#23 | 16:01 to 16:32 | cleaned
"If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike unto Thee."
#24 | 16:33 to 17:00 | cleaned
So what he's saying is, look, I can't get away from God. God isn't only omniscient, God is omnipresent. So if God is omnipresent, how do we lose His presence? Listen carefully. What we lose is His manifest presence. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Jonah. Hosea, Joel, Amos, and then Jonah. Look, if you would, Jonah chapter 1. And let's begin reading there with verse 1. Watch this carefully. Jonah chapter 1, verse 1. "Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. And he went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." Now skip down to verse 10.
#25 | 17:00 to 18:20 | cleaned
"Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them." Now how can Jonah flee from the presence of the Lord if God is omnipresent? He was fleeing from the temple where God peculiarly and particularly manifested Himself. He was getting away from the temple.
#26 | 18:21 to 18:51 | cleaned
Now, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but as you read through the Bible, the patriarchs did not just simply go around building altars. The patriarchs built altars only on two occasions. Number one, when God commanded an altar to be built, or number two, where God had particularly and peculiarly revealed Himself. So, if you look in your Bibles holding Hosea, if you would, go back in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 13.
#27 | 18:51 to 19:29 | cleaned
And let's begin reading there with verse 13. And notice what the Bible says concerning Abram. Notice Genesis chapter 13, and we'll begin reading there with verse 13. "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Verse 14, And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. Note now, for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Arise, walk through the land, and the length of it, and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." God had revealed Himself. God had manifested Himself.
#28 | 19:29 to 20:27 | cleaned
And so now He builds an altar. Look in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 9, because now God has told him to go offer his son, his only son Isaac. And look, if you would please, at verse 9, "And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abram built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." In other words, God ordained this altar and so, obviously, he built it in obedience to God. If you look in Genesis chapter 35 and verse 7, you'll remember how that Jacob was fleeing from his brother Esau. And of course, he laid down and then God revealed Himself to Jacob. And in verse 7, the Bible says this, "And He built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel, the house of God. Because there God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his brother."
#29 | 20:27 to 21:26 | cleaned
So, you didn't just go around building an altar anywhere you wanted to build an altar. You had to build where God either commanded or where God appeared in a particular way.
#30 | 21:27 to 21:38 | cleaned
Now, Moses built one in Exodus 17, verse 15. Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi. But that was where God sovereignly, powerfully, and providentially delivered them from their enemies as well. So, while it is clearly and obviously truthful that God is omnipresent, it is also clearly and obviously truthful and evident that there are places and there have been places in the Old Testament where God particularly and peculiarly manifested Himself. You remember, and we are going to say the tabernacle and the temple particularly, because the Shekinah glory came down. You remember that? The question then has to be asked, is there a place in the New Testament where God peculiarly and particularly reveals Himself?
#31 | 21:39 to 22:38 | cleaned
And the answer is yes. Well, where would that be? It happens to be the church. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 18, we shall begin reading with verse 15 and read through verse 20. Notice if you would, please, Matthew 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 15. Look what he says, and please note the context. "Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." Now watch, "...and if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let it be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." Now we're talking about the church.
#32 | 22:38 to 23:44 | cleaned
"Verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again I say unto you, that if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them." So, this context has to do with church discipline, and it has to do with two or three gathering together in His name, even exercising church discipline.
#33 | 23:44 to 24:26 | cleaned
So, there is a peculiar and a particular place in the New Testament where God reveals and manifests Himself just like there was in the Old Testament. Now, when God casts away a people, there is no longer a manifest presence of God. The only thing that is left is coldness, emptiness, and death. God cannot be found when He departs.
#34 | 24:27 to 24:59 | cleaned
Now, I want you to go back in your Bibles to the book of Hosea, chapter 5, and get ready, because I want to show you a verse. And as you're turning to Hosea 5, let me quote Proverbs 1 in verse 28, where God says, "They shall call upon Me, but I will not answer. They shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me." So when God departs, you can seek all you want, you will not find. You can cry all you want, God will not hear. Look in Hosea 5 and verse 6. God says, "They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord, but they shall not find Him."
#35 | 25:00 to 25:47 | cleaned
He has withdrawn Himself from them. So when God withdraws, when God hides His face, when God departs, it is impossible to find Him. Our Lord said it like this in John 7 and verse 34 to those Pharisees. He said, "You shall seek Me and shall not find Me, and where I am, thither you cannot come." And He said the same thing in John 8 and verse 21, "Then Jesus said to them, I go My way and you shall seek Me and you shall die in your sins. Whither I go, you cannot come." So it doesn't matter what you offer or what you sacrifice, when God departs, He is not going to listen.
#36 | 25:47 to 26:38 | cleaned
If you look back to Hosea chapter 9, look at verses 4 and 5. Look what he says. "They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him." In other words, it doesn't matter what an unrepentant, unbelieving person offers, God is unacceptable. "They shall not offer wine offerings to the Lord, neither shall they be pleasing unto Him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their souls shall not come into the house of the Lord." Then God asks, "What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the Feast of the Lord?" In other words, how can you offer something to Me when I'm not accepting, when I'm not even there? I've departed. I've withdrawn. Wow!
#37 | 26:38 to 27:32 | cleaned
You know, we have never really stopped to consider the implications of the departure of God from a people. We've never really stopped to understand what happens when God withdraws Himself. If you would really like to know what it's like to lose the presence of God, all you have to do is look around at our churches and you will find them cold, calloused, confused, contorted and comfortless. He's left us to ourselves. Now we have plays and programs and entertainments and musicals, but we no longer have the power and the presence of God. We can no longer say like the Apostle Peter in Acts chapter 3 and verse 6, to this man who is begging for alms, Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." There was the power and there was the presence of God. You go to the average church today, there's no awesomeness, there's no sense of the presence or the power of God.
#38 | 27:34 to 29:09 | cleaned
We lose His presence, His manifest presence when God departs. That's not all. If you look back in Hosea chapter 9, we also lose His provision. Look, if you would please, at verse 2. He says, "...the floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." In other words, whatever you have stocked up, the grain floor, it's not going to feed you. The winepress is not going to satisfy you. Skip down, if you would please, to verse 6.
#39 | 29:10 to 29:51 | cleaned
He says, "...for lo, they are gone, because of the destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles." In other words, all of their gardens and everything else that would be precious is now nothing more than thorns and nettles. Let me ask you a question. Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?
#40 | 29:51 to 30:21 | cleaned
I want you to hold Hosea, but I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, back to Jeremiah chapter 5. Jeremiah chapter 5. And notice, if you would please, let's begin reading there with verse 7. You see, here's what we do. We take everything that God gives us and we abuse it and pervert it and misuse it. So, Jeremiah 5, look in verse 7. Look at the question God asks, "How shall I pardon thee for this?"
#41 | 30:23 to 31:02 | cleaned
"Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. Now watch. When I fed them to the full, that is, when I provided for them, when I gave them everything they needed, everything they wanted, when I fed them to the full, what did they do? Then they committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlot's houses. They were as fed horses in the morning."
#42 | 31:03 to 31:26 | cleaned
"Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" Skip down to verse 21. Look at it. Verse 21, "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not. Fear you not me, saith the Lord? Will you not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevail. Though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it. But this people have a revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone, neither say they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season."
#43 | 31:27 to 32:25 | cleaned
"He reserveth and doth the appointed weeks of harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, the rain, the harvest, and your sins have withholden good things from you."
#44 | 32:25 to 32:39 | cleaned
Now, let me tell you something. I know that the Bible tells us that God is gracious and kind, and that God blesses the just and the unjust alike in a very general way. The rain falls upon the just and the unjust, the saved and the unsaved. His sun shines on the saved and the unsaved. And God feeds, in some degree, the unsaved just like He does the saved. But there is a difference when here is a people that is supposed to be a covenant people who blatantly, openly, publicly, and willingly sin and rebel against God.
#45 | 32:40 to 33:24 | cleaned
Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Amos chapter 4. Hosea, Joel, Amos. So just a few pages over. I want you to look at Amos chapter 4 and as you do, let me quote Isaiah 3 in verse 1. Listen to what God said in Isaiah 3 in verse 1. "The Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole staff of water." What's God saying? You're going to starve? You're going to starve?
#46 | 33:25 to 34:08 | cleaned
You read in the Bible how many times there was famine in the cities. And when Jerusalem fell, women were killing and cooking and eating their own children. That's what the Bible says. Read it in the book of Lamentations. God said, "I'm going to take it away."
#47 | 34:11 to 34:30 | cleaned
Now, let me show you something. Think about this. Why would God continue to give provisions to someone who does not want them, does not appreciate them, do not care for them, with the exception, I'll take them and use them for idols and use them for my sin? Well, look in Amos chapter 4, begin there with verse 6. God said, "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in your cities, and want of bread in all your places."
#48 | 34:30 to 35:00 | cleaned
"Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the LORD?" Wow. So there is where God's withholding His provision. Look in verse 7. "And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there was yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord?"
#49 | 35:01 to 35:31 | cleaned
So God has sent famine, God has sent drought. Now watch verse nine, "I have smitten you with blasting and mildew." Wow, that will destroy a crop. "When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord." Wow! "I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt."
#50 | 35:31 to 35:58 | cleaned
"Your young men have I slain with a sword, and have taken away your horses. I have made the stink of your camps to come up into your nostrils. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have you not returned unto Me, saith the Lord? Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God."
#51 | 35:58 to 36:23 | cleaned
Now what is he telling us? He is saying that when He departs, He is either going to withhold or diminish our provisions. Do you realize you cannot have the gift without the giver? When the giver leaves, He leaves with His gifts. And rain and fruitful seasons and His blessings in providing for us are all the gifts of God. Let me ask you this. Think about this. If your spouse committed adultery, not just once, but consistently and constantly and ran off and left you, deserted you, would you continue to support that spouse? Would you say, "Well, I think I'm going to just give her $5,000 a month anyhow"? Really? I wouldn't. I would not even support a child like that. What makes you think that a holy, righteous, sovereign God is going to support a people who hate Him and despise Him and refuse Him? Just like one would cast out an unfaithful spouse, so God likewise will cast out an unfaithful people.
#52 | 36:24 to 38:06 | cleaned
Look, if you would please, in Hosea 9 and verse 3. Here it is. Black and white. Plain English. Look at it. Hosea 9, verse 3, "...they shall not dwell in the LORD's land." They shall not dwell in the LORD's land. God says, "This is My land. I brought you in it. You are despising Me. I'm kicking you out. You are not going to dwell in the LORD's land." That's why He said in verse 17, "...My God shall cast them away." That's why He said in verse 15, "...I will drive them out of mine house." It's not just that they're cast out of His land, they're driven out of His house.
#53 | 38:07 to 38:53 | cleaned
So we lose His presence, we lose His provision. Thirdly, we lose His protection. Look in verse 6 of Hosea 9. He says, "...For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, thorns shall be in their tabernacles." Once God judges, and especially He's talking about Israel here, once God judges, He says there's no hope for recovery, there's no hope for return. He said, "Your secret and your safe places are going to be covered with nettles and thorns." No, here's what He's saying. You're going to die in a strange land. You're going to be dung upon the face of the earth.
#54 | 38:54 to 39:44 | cleaned
You will not be protected from disease. You will not be protected from destruction. You will not be protected from death. You will die. In fact, we need to learn a very important lesson, and here it is. If God does not protect us, we're not protected. I don't care how many weapons you have, and I don't care how good you are with those weapons, if God does not protect you, you are not protected.
#55 | 39:44 to 40:14 | cleaned
We can boast that we have the greatest military in the world. The greatest military in the world is nothing if God does not protect us. I think there's a verse that goes something like this. Psalm 127, verse 1, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." So if God does not protect us, we're not protected.
#56 | 40:14 to 40:44 | cleaned
Now, I want you to look, if you would, hold Hosea 9, but just look in Jeremiah 8, if you would please. Jeremiah 8, verses 2 and 3. Here's what God says about these wicked individuals. Look at it. Jeremiah 8, verse 2, talking about the bones of the wicked. "And they shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the hosts of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped."
#57 | 40:44 to 41:18 | cleaned
"They shall not be gathered, nor be buried. They shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain, of this evil family which remain in all the places which have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts." God said, "I'm going to let them die exactly where they are." So, what do we lose when God departs? We lose His presence. We lose His provision. We lose His protection. And one last thing. We lose His prophecy or His preaching. What do I mean?
#58 | 41:18 to 41:58 | cleaned
Look in your Bibles, Hosea 9, verses 7 and 8. He says, "The days of visitation are come. The days of recompense are come. Israel shall know it." And here's how he's going to know it. "The prophet is a fool. The spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God."
#59 | 41:58 to 42:34 | cleaned
Now, let me spell this out for you in plain old English. Once the Word of God is gone, there is no hope. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is a madman, what hope is there in finding truth? What hope is there in hearing truth? And the prophet himself, according to verse 8, becomes a snare, because he really and truly hates God, and he hates the house of God as well. If the prophet is a fool, if the spiritual man is mad, there's no one to teach the truth. There's no one to proclaim the truth. There's no one to declare the truth. Without truth, you cannot have repentance, and you cannot have faith. I think it's Romans 10 verse 17 that says, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." So if there is no word of God being preached, if there is no word of God being taught, there's not going to be any repentance, there's not going to be any faith, and that means there's not going to be any hope.
#60 | 42:35 to 43:41 | cleaned
Let me remind you of two truths. Actually, it's one truth in two parts. You remember when Ahab and Jezebel were upon the throne in Israel. God, of course, was judging Israel, and He sent a drought for three and a half years. And what did God do with Elijah? He took him out of the land. And here a little widow woman sustained him while he was outside of the boundaries of Israel.
#61 | 43:44 to 44:23 | cleaned
Now, the physical drought was nothing more than a physical picture of a spiritual reality. Because the prophet of God was not there. There was no preaching. There was no declaration. All there was was judgment. And no rain came until God sent the prophet back into the land. So when God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth. When it comes to Jeremiah and Judah and Jerusalem, God did not remove Jeremiah from the land the way He did Elijah. What God did was He left Jeremiah in the land.
#62 | 44:25 to 45:20 | cleaned
He just shut his mouth. For instance, in Jeremiah 7 and verse 16, here's what God told Jeremiah, "Pray not for this people." When you get to Jeremiah 11 and verse 14, God told Jeremiah, "Pray not for this people." Jeremiah really wanted to pray, and he really wanted to pray for his people. So in Jeremiah 14 and verse 11, God said, "All right, Jeremiah, you want to pray, I'm going to let you pray for them. But you pray what I tell you to pray. And I'm telling you to pray for their destruction, because that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to destroy them." So God took Elijah out of the land to give a picture of judgment. God left Jeremiah in the land. He just shut his mouth and gave him a picture of judgment. One of the ways that we can really tell that America is under the judgment of God is the fact that there are so few that are really preaching and teaching the Word of God. When the Word of God is not preached, when the Word of God is not taught, there cannot be any repentance or any faith because both come through hearing the Word of God.
#63 | 45:21 to 46:46 | cleaned
It is the Holy Spirit that opens our eyes and opens our ears and opens our hearts to receive and understand. But if there is no proclamation of the truth, there is no hope. None whatsoever. You know, we've forgotten that passage in Isaiah 57, I think it is, verse 1. The Bible says that the righteous man perishes and the merciful man is taken away, none considering that he's taken away from the judgment to come.
#64 | 46:49 to 47:21 | cleaned
So a lot of times God does remove His preachers. I thought about that yesterday as I was preaching Pastor McCurry's funeral. I have been asked, and it has hit my mind innumerable times, what is going to happen when all of God's preachers are dead and gone, if God does not raise up replacements? I'm just simply saying, when there is no preaching, there is no hope. We've reached the stage in America that is equal to the stage in Israel in 1 Samuel 3 and verse 1. The Bible says in that particular passage, "And the child Samuel ministered unto Eli," listen carefully, "and the word of God was precious in those days."
#65 | 47:22 to 48:26 | cleaned
There was no open vision. And the word vision refers to preaching. There was no open preaching. There was no public proclamation of the word of God. What is it that makes something valuable? It's scarcity. That's why gold is more valuable than silver. Silver is more valuable than tin. Diamonds are more valuable than copper. And when the Word of God is rare, when you can really hear it taught and preached and proclaimed in its purity, when that is rare, that is a scarce commodity.
#66 | 48:27 to 49:07 | cleaned
And it becomes exceedingly precious. And when God departs, listen carefully, He takes His preachers and His preaching with Him. We not only lose His presence, we lose His provision, His protection, and His preaching.
#67 | 49:09 to 49:34 | cleaned
Now let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Think about this. If there is no repentance, if there is no return to Scripture, if there is only continual rebellion and disobedience, we had better be saying our goodbyes to God, for He will withdraw Himself. He will depart. And He will do exactly as He did in Hosea chapter 9. One more. I want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. I want you to see this because it is so plainly stated in this passage. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. If you are not saved, if you refuse to listen to the truth, and you refuse to hear and heed the truth, and if you have no desire whatsoever for truth, and you have no desire for righteousness and holiness, then you had better say your goodbye to God. Why? Watch this. 2 Thessalonians 1 beginning there with verse 6.
#68 | 49:35 to 51:09 | cleaned
"Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," here it is, "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." So, the great judgment, according to verse 9, is to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.
#69 | 51:09 to 51:58 | cleaned
So those who hate Him need to say goodbye while they can, because once He banishes them, it is for eternity. I'm telling you, folks, the greatest punishment that can befall any people in a society, in a nation, it's when God leaves us alone. When He leaves us to ourselves, when He departs, when He withdraws Himself, when He hides His face, that is the worst judgment that can befall us, because the only thing left is death and destruction. Have you said your goodbyes to God? If there is no repentance, He will withdraw Himself.
#70 | 52:00 to 53:03 | cleaned
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to You this day. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You for Your warnings, Lord. And Father, we do not want to lose Your presence, nor Your provision or protection or Your preaching. We want Thee, Lord. And we ask for repentance and faith, not just as individuals, Lord, but as families, as a church, as a society, as a nation. Thank you, Father, for all that you've done in manifesting yourself. We understand that Jesus Christ is the greatest manifestation of God. He is God in the flesh, and to reject Him is to reject Thee. We thank Thee for Your provision, for Your protection, for the preaching and teaching of Your Word. Give us grace, Lord, that we may repent and believe Thee and serve Thee and honor Thee in every area and aspect of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask and pray, Amen.
#71 | 53:05 to 54:16 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T14:56:49Z

Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver expounds Hosea 9 to warn that when a people persistently rebel against God, He will depart from them, withdrawing His manifest presence, provision, protection, and preaching. This departure is the ultimate judgment, leaving only death and destruction. The sermon calls for repentance and faith to avoid being cast away from God.

Introduction: The Pain of Goodbyes and God’s Departure

Weaver contrasts human goodbyes with God casting out His unfaithful covenant people in Hosea 9, where He sends them away, casts them out, and departs from them.

Scripture Reading — Hosea 9:1-17

"Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people, for thou hast gone a-whoring from thy God. Thou hast loved a reward upon every corn floor. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new wine shall fail in her." "They shall not dwell in the Lord's land, Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, neither shall they be pleasing unto him. Their sacrifices shall be unto them as the bread of mourners. All that eat thereof shall be polluted, for their bread for their soul shall not come into the house of the LORD. What will you do in the solemn day and in the day of the feast of the LORD?" "For lo, they are gone because of destruction. Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them, the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them, and thorns shall be in their tabernacles. The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad for the multitude of thine iniquity and the great hatred. The watchman of Ephraim was with my God, but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all of his ways, and hatred in the house of his God. They have deeply corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah. Therefore he will remember their iniquity, and he will visit their sins. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness." "I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time. But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves into that shame, and their abominations were according as they loved. As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them that there shall not be a man left." "Yea, woe also unto them when I depart from them. Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. Give them, O Lord, what wilt thou give? Give them a miscarrying wound and dry breasts. All their wickedness is in Gilgal. For there I hated them. For the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house."

God’s Warning and the Consequences of Forsaking Him

Israel was warned in Deuteronomy that forsaking God would lead to His forsaking them, hiding His face, and bringing destruction.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people will rise up and go a-whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whether they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then mine anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?"

Look what God says in verse 18,

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods."

Then if you look in Deuteronomy chapter 32, and verse 20, Deuteronomy 32 and verse 20, he says this again.

Scripture Reading — Deuteronomy 31:16-18

"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith."

Losing God’s Manifest Presence

Scripture Reading — Genesis 13:14-18

"But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Verse 14, And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, southward, eastward, and westward. Note now, for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Arise, walk through the land, and the length of it, and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord."

God had revealed Himself. God had manifested Himself.

And so now He builds an altar. Look in Genesis chapter 22 and verse 9, because now God has told him to go offer his son, his only son Isaac. And look, if you would please, at verse 9,

Scripture Reading — Genesis 22:9

"And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abram built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood."

Losing God’s Provision

When God departs, He withholds material blessings such as food and fruitful seasons, as seen in Hosea 9:2,6 and Amos 4, because a rebellious people do not deserve His gifts.

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 3:1

"The Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole staff of water."

What's God saying? You're going to starve? You're going to starve?

Scripture Reading — Amos 4:6-12

"And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in your cities, and want of bread in all your places." "Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the LORD?"

Wow. So there is where God's withholding His provision. Look in verse 7.

Scripture Reading — Amos 4:6-12

"And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there was yet three months to the harvest. And I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city. One piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered into one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord?"

Losing God’s Protection

Without God’s protection, no human defenses can save; the wicked will die in a strange land and become dung on the earth, as described in Hosea 9:6 and Jeremiah 8:2-3.

Losing God’s Prophecy and Preaching

When God departs, He removes true preachers or silences them, leaving no hope for repentance or faith, as illustrated by Elijah’s removal and Jeremiah’s silenced mouth.

Applications: Saying Goodbye to God

If there is no repentance, God will withdraw; the unsaved face everlasting destruction from His presence. The greatest judgment is when God leaves us alone.

Have You Said Your Goodbyes to God?

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	121619134550677
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom: Can We All Just Get Along?
Genre	Sermon
Date	2019-12-15
Dictation Name
Book	Book 081: Proverbs: The Fear of the Lord and Wisdom - Volume 1 — Chapter 21
Source Timed Segments	71

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Pain of Goodbyes and God’s Departure: Weaver contrasts human goodbyes with God casting out His unfaithful covenant people in Hosea 9, where He sends them away, casts them out, and departs from them.
God’s Warning and the Consequences of Forsaking Him: Israel was warned in Deuteronomy that forsaking God would lead to His forsaking them, hiding His face, and bringing destruction.
Losing God’s Manifest Presence: Though God is omnipresent, His manifest presence can be lost, as seen in Jonah fleeing the temple and the patriarchs building altars only where God revealed Himself. In the New Testament, the church is the place of peculiar manifestation.
Losing God’s Provision: When God departs, He withholds material blessings such as food and fruitful seasons, as seen in Hosea 9:2,6 and Amos 4, because a rebellious people do not deserve His gifts.
Losing God’s Protection: Without God’s protection, no human defenses can save; the wicked will die in a strange land and become dung on the earth, as described in Hosea 9:6 and Jeremiah 8:2-3.
Losing God’s Prophecy and Preaching: When God departs, He removes true preachers or silences them, leaving no hope for repentance or faith, as illustrated by Elijah’s removal and Jeremiah’s silenced mouth.
Applications: Saying Goodbye to God: If there is no repentance, God will withdraw; the unsaved face everlasting destruction from His presence. The greatest judgment is when God leaves us alone.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God’s departure is the foundation and completion of Israel’s misery

Hosea 9 shows that God’s departure is the last step in their misery and the loss of all hope, as He casts them out and departs from them.

Weaver says, 'When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope.'

God warned Israel that forsaking Him would lead to His forsaking them

Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and 32:20 show that God explicitly warned He would hide His face and bring evils upon them if they turned to other gods.

Weaver reads Deuteronomy 31:16-18 and 32:20, emphasizing God’s warning: 'I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be.'

Losing God’s provision is a direct consequence of rebellion

Hosea 9:2-6 and Amos 4 show that God withholds food, rain, and fruitful seasons when people use His gifts for sin and refuse to return to Him.

Weaver cites Hosea 9:2,6 and Amos 4:6-12, stating, 'Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?'

Without God’s protection, no human defense can save

Psalm 127:1 and Jeremiah 8:2-3 illustrate that if God does not protect, even the greatest military is useless, and the wicked will die unburied.

Weaver quotes Psalm 127:1 and Jeremiah 8:2-3, saying, 'If God does not protect us, we're not protected.'

The removal of true preaching signals judgment and leaves no hope

When God removes or silences preachers, as with Elijah and Jeremiah, there is no proclamation of truth, making repentance and faith impossible.

Weaver explains, 'When God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth.'

Everlasting destruction is separation from God’s presence

2 Thessalonians 1:9 teaches that the ultimate punishment for those who reject the gospel is everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.

Weaver reads 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9, emphasizing 'punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.'

Scripture References

Hosea 9:1-17: The entire chapter is read as the primary text, describing God’s judgment on Israel for their whoredom and rebellion.
Proverbs 25:17: Cited to illustrate the wisdom of leaving before overstaying a welcome, contrasting with God casting out unwelcome guests.
Hosea 7:13-16: Read to show that Israel fled from God and rebelled despite His redemption and provision.
Deuteronomy 31:16-18: God’s warning to Moses that Israel would forsake Him and He would hide His face and bring evils upon them.
Deuteronomy 32:20: God declares He will hide His face and see their end because they are a froward generation.
Psalm 139:1-12: Used to explain God’s omniscience and omnipresence, showing He is everywhere in His totality.
Jonah 1:1-3, 10: Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord, meaning the temple where God manifested Himself, illustrating loss of manifest presence.
Genesis 13:14-18: Abram built an altar where God revealed Himself, showing altars were built only at places of divine manifestation.
Genesis 22:9: Abram built an altar in obedience to God’s command to offer Isaac.
Genesis 35:7: Jacob built an altar at Bethel because God appeared to him there.
Exodus 17:15: Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah Nissi after God’s deliverance.
Matthew 18:15-20: Jesus promises His presence where two or three gather in His name, indicating the church as a place of peculiar manifestation.
Proverbs 1:28: Quoted to show that when God departs, people will call but He will not answer.
Hosea 5:6: They will seek the Lord but not find Him because He has withdrawn.
John 7:34; 8:21: Jesus tells the Pharisees they will seek Him and not find Him, and die in their sins.
Hosea 9:4-5: Their offerings will not be pleasing to the Lord; He asks what they will do in the solemn day.
Acts 3:6: Peter’s healing of the lame man demonstrates the power and presence of God that is missing in many churches today.
Jeremiah 5:7-8, 21-25: God questions how He can pardon a people who use His provision for adultery and whose sins withhold good things.
Isaiah 3:1: Quoted to show God takes away the whole stay of bread and water.
Amos 4:6-12: God recounts sending famine, drought, blight, pestilence, and overthrow, yet Israel did not return; therefore prepare to meet God.

Historical References

Pastor McCurry’s funeral: Weaver mentions attending the funeral the previous day and hugging family members multiple times before leaving.
Ahab and Jezebel’s reign and Elijah’s drought: God sent a three-and-a-half-year drought and removed Elijah from Israel as a picture of judgment.
Jeremiah’s ministry during Jerusalem’s fall: God left Jeremiah in the land but shut his mouth, commanding him not to pray for the people.

Important Quotes

When you read Hosea chapter 9, you will find that God's departure is the foundation and the completion of their misery. It is the last step in their misery and the loss of all their hope.

Summarizes the central message that God’s departure is the ultimate judgment, removing all hope.

What we lose is His manifest presence.

Clarifies that while God is omnipresent, His special, experienced presence can be withdrawn.

Why should God continue to bless a disobedient people who hate Him and despise Him?

Rhetorical question emphasizing that God’s provision is not owed to rebels.

If God does not protect us, we're not protected.

Stark statement that human defenses are worthless without divine protection.

When God removes His preachers, it's a sign of judgment because there's not going to be any declaration of truth.

Links the absence of true preaching to divine judgment and hopelessness.

When the Word of God is rare, when you can really hear it taught and preached and proclaimed in its purity, when that is rare, that is a scarce commodity.

Highlights the preciousness of true preaching in a time of scarcity.

The greatest punishment that can befall any people in a society, in a nation, it's when God leaves us alone.

Culminating warning that divine abandonment is the worst possible judgment.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

What does it mean for God to 'depart' from a people, and how does this relate to His omnipresence?

[Context]

Weaver explains that God’s manifest presence can be lost even though He is everywhere.

[Question]

In what ways might we be taking God’s provision for granted, and how should we respond to avoid His withdrawal?

[Context]

The sermon warns that God withholds provision from those who misuse His gifts.

[Question]

How can we discern whether the scarcity of true preaching in our day is a sign of God’s judgment?

[Context]

Weaver connects the removal of preachers to judgment, citing 1 Samuel 3:1.

[Question]

What practical steps can individuals and churches take to seek God’s manifest presence and avoid spiritual coldness?

[Context]

The loss of God’s presence leads to cold, calloused churches; repentance is urged.

[Question]

How does the warning of everlasting destruction from God’s presence in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 motivate evangelism and personal holiness?

[Context]

The sermon applies the message to the unsaved, emphasizing eternal separation.

Applications

Format deepseek deepseek-v4-pro structured study JSON | Source Commentary.net transcript enrichment

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T03:48:52Z