Episode Transcript
Hosea 8. If you go ahead and turn your Bibles to Hosea 8, in the meantime, we'll give you an update.
We have 156 Gospel contacts this week. That brings a yearly subtotal up to 4,641.
So keep up the good work. Keep reaching out with the Gospel. Spread it everywhere you go until the Lord takes us home.
Hosea 8, verse 11, is where we're going to be expounding this morning.
And the title of the message this morning is, Many Wrongs Don't Make a Right.
Many wrongs don't make a right.
In the verse we're about to say this morning, God addresses the universal problem of false religion.
And I say universal because false religion is worldwide.
Don't ever think that America is religious and you get outside our culture.
You'll expand your horizon as so many people say and educate yourself.
All you're going to do is find that people are religious everywhere you go.
False religion began in the Garden of Eden. It was spread by Cain and his descendants.
It was popularized by Nimrod. It is still embraced by the world today.
And it will continue to be embraced by the world today all the way into the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
Don't think false religion is going to go away when Jesus appears in the clouds. It's not.
It will continue until every rebel in this earth is forcibly removed out.
I saw one of those bumper stickers the other day. Perhaps you all have seen them. It says coexist.
You all seen those before coexist.
And it's encouraging all the religions in the world to live peaceably with one another.
How's that working out right now in the Middle East? It doesn't. How did that work out with Cain and Abel? It didn't.
I remember George Bush after 9-11 telling us that Islam was a quote religion of peace.
In the so-called Christian community we have pastors with different beliefs that are meeting together regularly to celebrate their union with each other.
Diversity and inclusion is a big thing in the United States if you haven't noticed.
It has been for a long time because people foolishly believe that people don't have to be exactly right about spiritual things as long as they are kind to their fellow man.
As long as they're committed to what they believe. They somehow have respect to the people.
The White House there in Washington, it puts on a token celebration for pretty much every religion that's in America today.
And it seems like the coochier the religion is, the bigger the spread they put out for it.
And they're thinking that we are civilized people because we give equal weight to each religion. Equal billing to each religion.
And they think that we're stronger culturally, more culturally rich and stronger as a people because we practice such a great variety of religions in our nation.
But this morning we're going to hear from the authority on religion.
We're going to hear from the one who knows the truth, who is the truth and who speaks the truth while the rest of the world is sugarcoating lies.
Look, we'll be now in verse 11. God said, because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your precious word. I pray all eyes will be on you this morning.
I pray all distractions will be removed. And I pray you'll speak to us by your spirit and fetus with your word.
We ask to your honor and glory and our edification in Jesus. Wonderful name. Amen.
Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
That may seem a little confusing when you first listen to it, a little rough whenever you first read it.
Like, what is that talking about? Well, quickly, let me remind you that Ephraim was a reference to the northern kingdom of Israel at that time when they were divided up into two parts.
And if we will listen carefully to what God's saying in this verse, we're going to find out that this short verse is replete with truth that we need to hear today.
Listen to it again. Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.
All right. Let's meditate on that verse now. Let's break that verse down now.
Take your pens and underscore the following key words in this verse.
Underscore Ephraim. Underscore the word half. Underscore the word many. Underscore the word altars.
That's your key words that condenses it down to your key thought here, which is Ephraim has many altars.
What do we learn about our society here of northern Israel at that time?
We learn that it's much like America, North America at this time. Don't get the wrong idea about Israel.
Israel was not a secular nation during this time. Israel is more secular today than they were back then.
Israel was not an atheistic nation. Israel was a very religious nation. Israel had many altars.
Not one, not a few altars, but many altars, which shows us they were very zealous about their religious worship.
They had many altars, which means they probably had many different locations
where altars were conveniently placed throughout the land for their people.
People love convenience, and this holds true when it comes to religion as well.
Would you rather worship on Saturday night and sleep in on Sunday morning?
We've got that option for you. We've got churches here, around here, that they will do that.
They will have service for you on Saturday night, so you don't have to come on Sunday morning.
We have churches that do that. Would you rather listen to church while you cook lunch?
You're at home on Sunday morning and you just cook lunch and have it playing in your background?
We have options for that too. Very convenient.
Would you rather not drive too far away to go to church? That's no problem.
We are surrounded by churches in our community. No problem at all.
Do you prefer getting up early and getting out the door and going to church early so you can have the rest of the day?
That's no problem. We've got church services that will hold early on Sunday morning for you.
Would you rather sleep in on Sunday morning and then get started a little later on Sunday morning?
No problem. We'll have a service that's late for you.
We have churches that will offer you those convenient choices.
Do you prefer having a worship service that's a little more modern with the music or one that's a little more traditional?
We'll take care of that. We've got all kinds of convenient options for you.
Let me tell you, the early churches were too busy trying to keep themselves alive and out of prison
and spreading the gospel to worry about such stupid things like that.
They were more interested in obedience to God than they were convenience to themselves.
They were more interested in endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
and they were splitting up the church into different worship dates and times
so that half or a third of the people in the church didn't know who the other half or two thirds are.
It's sad.
They were willing to put life on hold and listen to the Apostle Paul preach for hours.
They were willing to set the day of Jesus' resurrection aside for worship.
It's a novel idea, isn't it?
Actually, working your schedule around church rather than church working its schedule around you.
They were willing to lose their lives for the sake of the gospel.
It wasn't convenient for the Apostle Paul to suffer shipwreck.
It wasn't convenient for him to get bit by a snake.
It wasn't convenient for him to get put into prison.
It wasn't convenient for him to have to endure the physical elements he did for the sake of the gospel.
It wasn't convenient for the apostles to be beaten.
It wasn't convenient for John the Baptist to be decapitated.
It wasn't convenient when Jesus left heaven, was born in a manger,
was rejected by those who he created and then was arrested and crucified.
All of that was inconvenient.
Christians, we don't need to be concerned with convenience.
We need to be concerned with obedience.
Instead of asking ourselves, which church is more convenient for me, we need to be asking ourselves,
where can I learn the word of God and collectively fulfill God's will for the body of Jesus Christ?
They had many altars, which meant they probably had many locations for their personal convenience.
But you know what else?
They had many altars, which meant they probably had many choices for their individual tastes.
I mean, there's no use in settling for the first altar you happen to find, Brother Shepherd.
There's no use in settling for that.
You might as well shop around and find the altar that's right for you.
You know, that's exactly why we have a Pentecostal church in that direction.
We have a Church of Christ in that direction, which is all very, very close to us.
You can step out and see almost all these churches if you step out on the front porch.
We've got a Presbyterian church in that direction.
We've got a non-denominational church in that direction.
The Southern Baptist Church is a little bit further down there, and that's just close.
That's not included.
We've got a homosexual church on the other side of the lake.
We've got cowboy churches.
I tell you what, I've got an awful idea.
I really do.
I've got a real good idea.
Brother Shepherd, I'm thinking about making first responder churches.
How about that?
Instead of the cowboy churches that have the rodeo arena, and they get through with their
teaching everything, they go out and they get on bulls and horses and ride in a rodeo arena,
we'll have a first responder church.
We'll have an indoor pistol range.
We'll get through with service.
We'll go out there.
We'll shoot our guns.
Man, I don't think for a minute we wouldn't pack this place out.
There's no sense in settling for the first altar you find.
Find an altar that's right for you, one that fits your taste, one that is your color,
your size, one that's custom tailored for the worship experience of your choice.
Very sad, but that's where we're at today.
Listen, you don't need to look for a place that conforms to what you want in a church.
You need to look for a place where you can be conformed to what God wants in you.
That's the difference.
How about we quit looking for places to meet our needs and we start becoming people that meet God's
demands.
God wasn't impressed with the number of Israel's altars.
Not at all.
And he's not impressed with the number of hours.
In fact, it was just the opposite.
God said, Ephraim hath many altars.
What's those next two words?
To sin.
To sin.
Now they weren't trying to sin so much.
It wasn't like, let's build an altar so we can sin.
But that was the result of building that altar.
The Hebrew word translated sin here.
It's not the word that means to transgress the commandment.
That's a different one.
This one is the word that means to miss the standard that God has set.
To miss the mark that God has set for you.
Means to come short and fail to achieve the righteous standards that God set for you
for worship in his word.
Now, isn't it reasonable to conclude that a religious institution should be helping us achieve
the standards that God has set for us?
Helping us achieve and accomplish what God has called us to do.
That's what a religious institution should do.
And if a religious institution is not helping us achieve God's will,
but is in fact causing us to miss God's will in our lives and in his standards of worship,
then isn't it also reasonable to conclude that that institution is hurting us rather than helping us?
Yes.
And we have many religious institutions today all around us who are doing just that.
Yesterday I was in my study.
I was working on a book, writing a book, and her doorbell ring.
And I thought, it's our defibrillator for the church.
It's the first thing I thought.
They're delivering the defibrillator for the church.
I was wrong.
I had to pick it up Monday at CVS.
But anyway, I thought that's who it was.
And so I went to the door real quick because it requires a signature.
I went to the door real quick, and it wasn't.
It was a 60-something year old man and like a late 20, 30-something year old woman.
So I said, how can I help you?
Well, they were invited me to come to the Church of Christ Church there in Athens.
And invited me to come to a special service.
And I said, well, now I appreciate you all inviting me, but now I don't believe like you all do.
I believe we're saved by grace alone through faith alone and Jesus Christ alone.
And I said, y'all believe we have to be baptized and be saved and keep working the best we can to
stay saved.
And he goes, boy, I'd love to have a Bible study with you.
I said, sir, come on in.
I sure did.
I said, come on in.
He said, well, I said, I didn't bring a Bible today.
I said, I've got one for you.
Come on in.
So he comes in.
I give him my Bible.
I take me another Bible.
And I take God's Word, open it up and not trying to help him.
But you know what?
Trying to really help that young woman.
And I take God's Word and I show him what God's Word says in the Bible.
I show him what baptism is and the baptism that actually saves us.
And you could tell he's getting nervous.
He's getting shaken.
He doesn't know his way around the Bible.
And I had to tell him where different verses were.
And it was so sad.
And finally, one time he said, when, when do we get credit for our salvation?
When are we when is that moment that we actually are saved?
And I said, the Bible tells us because he thinks it's when you're in the back to the
water.
I took him to Ephesians when you believe you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
You know what he said?
No.
I said, sir, that's the Scriptures.
When you believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
He looks at me and he says, one of us has a false gospel.
I said, we sure do.
I said, you think about it, sir.
I believe Jesus died on the cross for me.
So do you, right?
Yes.
I said, I've been baptized in water.
So have you, right?
Yes.
I'm serving Jesus.
I was in there writing a book for the Lord when you knocked on my door.
You're out serving the Lord, trying to knock on people's doors and get them to go to church.
So we're both serving.
We both believe Jesus died for our sins.
We've both been baptized in the water.
We're both working.
And one of us has a false gospel and the difference between the two is this.
I am working out of love because of what Jesus accomplished for me.
You are working out a necessity lest you not be good enough and you die and go to hell.
I am trusting in what Jesus has done.
You are trusting in what you were doing.
When I look at the cross, I see it as finished.
When you look at the cross, you see it's just gotten started.
That's the difference.
And that's how come we have all these different religions out here,
all these different altars out here.
Don't drive by a different altar.
Don't drive by a different church and think,
well, they're trying to serve God and they're going to heaven.
We're all going to be surprised when we get to heaven.
We see that all these different people from these different churches are there.
That's a lie.
God isn't impressed with these different altars.
You drive Central Baptist Church here in Maybank, Texas,
there's going to be one altar and that is the cross of Jesus Christ where the lamb of God died.
That's the only altar we have.
Praise his name.
I don't want one fashioned any other way, Brother Doug.
No, sir.
No, sir.
So whoever worshiped at those altars,
because you have to understand there was only one altar that God gave in the Bible.
That was the altar that was sitting outside that tabernacle where the sacrifices were made.
Now there was a golden altar inside, but as far as sacrifices were made,
that is the only altar where Israel could sacrifice was outside the temple.
It was the brazen altar and no other altar, no other way to God, but through that altar God provided
because that altar represent the cross of Jesus Christ.
And there is no other way that man can get to God except through the cross.
And the cross is finished work.
So whoever was worshiping at those altars, they weren't fulfilling God's word.
They were sitting against it.
They're sitting at an altar.
They were worshiping at an altar that God said, no, that's not the way.
Not the way I provided.
Could you imagine someone in Noah's time?
God builds an arc or has Noah build an arc by God's instructions and design.
And then Noah tells everyone, here's an arc that God's provided whereby you can escape
the coming judgment.
And everyone says, well, here's what we'll do.
I'm going to build a sailboat.
I'm going to build a kayak that suits me more personally.
I kind of like being the great outdoors.
I don't want to be all cooped up in that arc and people start building their own boats.
But that wasn't the way God provided man to escape.
So by building their own boats, they were rejecting God's.
It's not admirable to create a new altar.
It's not admirable to custom tailor an altar to your own preferences,
because as you're doing that, you're saying God yours is not good enough for me.
Regardless of the people's intentions when they built the altars,
regardless of how well the altars were received in the community,
regardless of how dedicated the people were to sacrificing those altars.
They were not alters to the glory of God and the betterment of man.
They were alters to sin.
That's what God is saying here.
The vast number of altar shows us that Israel was serious about their worship,
but regardless of their intentions, God says, look back in your text.
Altars shall be unto him to sin.
That means the altar shall be considered by God to be sin.
Here's a kingdom truth this morning.
It doesn't matter how sincere you are.
It matters how right you are.
Doesn't matter how sincere you are.
It matters how right you are.
But, but brother Richard, they were so zealous about their religion.
Don't you think God will give people some kind of consideration
as long as they're devoted to the faith or the denomination of their choice?
Well, he'll give them consideration.
The more sincere that you are toward a false religion,
the more he will consider you to have your heart set against the truth.
Yeah, he'll give you consideration.
The more committed you are to going against the way God provided.
That's how God's going to look at it.
He said, well, they were so committed to that boat.
Yes, they were in their commitment to the boat that they built
is sincere and committed as they were that boat.
It was an absolute rejection to the boat that God built and provided.
Now, don't miss this.
These were altars that God was condemning.
Altars, not Buddha statues.
They were altars that God was condemning.
See the whole idea of an altar.
You know where it came from?
It came from God's word.
The whole idea of sacrifice came from God slaying those first animals to cover Adam and Eve.
And then Cain and Abel, they offer sacrifices and altar.
Abraham builds altars where he goes and he sacrifices and calls on the name of the Lord.
So these altars had a connection to the word of God.
That church of Christ's man had a connection to the word of God.
We're both sitting there where their Bibles open and he comes to the conclusion one of us has a
false gospel.
You see?
But they both come from the Bible.
The people who wanted Jesus Christ crucified used the same scriptures that Jesus did.
These were altars that God was condemning just because something looks Christian,
just because something's called a church, just because someone calls himself a pastor,
does not mean it's true.
An altar closely resembles the truth, but it's not the truth if it's not the altar God provided.
So it doesn't matter if a church has a cross in their religion like the Christian church does.
It only matters if that church holds to the faith that was once for all delivered into the saints.
Here's another kingdom truth.
When you multiply altars of sin, you multiply the sins of the altars.
Or say it again.
When you multiply altars of sin, you multiply the sins of the altars.
You see, remember that word, sin meant to miss God's standard, to come short of God's standard for
worship.
Now if that altar is, you know, if it's half truth, then it's missing half.
It only comes halfway to the standard God set.
But when you multiply something that comes short of God's standard,
then you multiply the distance you come short of it.
Make sense?
I don't know if you can, but if someone, if you've got a calculator on your phone,
does someone know how to use the calculator on their phone and calculate something negative?
You know, you put a negative number in, you know how to do that?
You got one?
Pull it out.
Pull it out.
And multiply negative 50 times 20.
Negative 50 times 20.
You got it?
What is it?
Negative thousand.
Negative thousand!
So if you've got someone that has a religion that's half true,
that means they are coming short of God's standard 50%.
Now if Abigail,
aprons by Abigail, get them while they can.
If Abigail selling her aprons, if she's making $1 an apron in profit,
we went over business last Wednesday.
It was incredible what you've learned here.
You may make $1 profit on each apron,
and you're needing to make $100, you need to sell 100 aprons,
or you could sell one apron for $100, right?
And get $100 profit.
So if you're making a little profit, you can multiply the aprons
and eventually reach the profit you desire.
But if you're losing 50 cents for every dollar on those aprons,
and you multiply the aprons,
you're going to keep getting further and further behind in how much you're making.
And so if you've got a religion that's halfway true,
and you say, well I know what we'll do,
we'll just multiply that religion.
We'll be more dedicated to it, we'll be more sincere,
we'll put our heart and soul into it as you multiply the altars,
and as you spread the religion around,
you go from 50% negative to now 1000% against God's word.
So he said,
those many altars that you make to sin,
guess what, they're going to be unto you to sin.
You're simply multiplying the offenses of your false religion.
You can't get holiness by multiplying unholyness.
Jesus said the way to God is to go through the single narrow gate that God provided.
And that gates the gospel.
You can't get to God by making more gates.
If you only have one gate in a narrow way or a narrow road,
as Jesus said, that leads to life,
only one narrow gate and one narrow road that goes through it that gets to God,
then you can make other gates, you can make other roads.
But don't expect God to be pleased with your gate building.
For when you build another gate,
it's only because you reject the only gate God provided you.
Just like with the Ark,
God provided only one altar for Israel to offer upon.
So every other altar they built was another rejection of the altar.
God provided every religion that denies salvation by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone, in his death, his burial,
his resurrection alone is a rejection of the one way God provided man to come to him.
Many wrong turns don't make a right way to God.
And with that, we'll go ahead and close and Lord willing take back up
in the next verse, next Lord's day.
Father, I thank you for your precious word.
I thank you for your truth.
I thank you God that you have given us your word,
that we can take it and know without a doubt
that we are on the way that leads to life.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life.
No one comes unto the Father but by me.
That leaves me out.
That leaves everyone, this congregation out.
We can't get by our own devices.
We get there by Jesus Christ alone.
And it is in his name we preach and pray and close this prayer.
And I pray dear Lord, if there's any here who do not have their faith in Christ alone
for their salvation, that they will be forced eternally too late in his precious name we pray.
Amen.
