Episode Transcript
You take God's precious Word and turn the book of Hosea.
Chapter 8, Hosea, Chapter 8.
And while you're turning there, I'll catch you up on our gospel contacts this week.
We had 127 tracts passed out or books given or what have you.
And that brings our yearly subtotal up to 4,154.
So just keep up the good work.
Hosea 8, verse 6.
I understand that the ladies had a good time yesterday at the ladies' function.
I'm very glad to hear that.
If you're a visitor here this morning, we welcome you.
And all of our teaching is verse by verse exposition.
So we're taking up what we left off last week, which was verse 5.
The title of the message this morning is "The Calf of Israel."
The calf of Israel.
In verse 5 last week, God told Israel, "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off."
Israel had made many idols, some of which were calves,
like the golden calf that Israel made in the wilderness.
remember when they left Egypt. And God is saying your calf Samaria, and remember
Samaria was the capital of Israel at that time, has rejected you. It will be
no help to you and it will depart from you when your trouble comes. Although
there was apparently a calf Samaria was particularly fond of, I believe this calf
represents all forms of idolatry, not only in the land of Israel, but also in our land
today. All form of idolatry says we're thinking of the calf of Israel. We have to apply this
doctrine to any idolatrous beliefs that we have today in our land as well. And any idolatry,
I'll tell you this right now.
Anything that you put your trust in outside of the Lord Jesus Christ will abandon you
in the day of trouble.
It will cast you off.
They rejected the true God and made false gods that would let them live in their sin.
So they didn't want God, they wanted that calf.
That calf would let them live however they wanted to.
Here's a kingdom truth this morning.
Any God that will let you live without correcting you will let you die without helping you.
Any God that will let you live without correcting you will let you die without helping you.
Now in verse six this morning, as we move forward, we're going to learn some important
doctrine about this calf and thus about every other thing that we put our trust in.
The calf of Israel represents every man-made religion or secular ideology today.
The calf of Israel this morning is going to give us some very important information, and
by God's grace we'll see the difference between the calf of Israel and the son of God.
Look here now with me in verse 6, "God said Israel was condemned for worshipping this
idolatrous calf."
Verse 6, "For from Israel was it also."
For from Israel was it also.
In other words, the calf Israel worshiped originated from the nation worshiping it.
You see?
From Israel was it also.
Now you think about that for a minute.
Only fools will worship something that originated from themselves.
when it comes to what we worship today,
origin is everything.
You see, if the world came from God,
then our existence depends on Him, right?
On the other hand, if we have a God that came from us,
then that God's existence depends on us.
Israel's God came from Israel.
So it could only be a God as long as Israel was around to worship it.
You see?
Before Israel fashioned that calf, it was just a piece of metal laying in the ground.
Just loose metal laying in the ground.
That calf's glory, that calf's existence as a false god came from man and thus it depended on man.
On the other hand, the one true God, the God that created man, doesn't depend on us.
Therefore we can depend on Him.
Isn't that good?
Thank God for that.
The only reason we can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is because Jesus didn't come from us.
We came from Him.
By Him were all things created, the Bible says.
So everyone needs to ask themselves is what I'm depending on dependent on me.
That's something that every person in America should be asking themselves today
is what I am depending on, depending on me.
If it is, then you're in for a big letdown the day of your calamity comes.
Unbelievers know that this is true.
They do. And that's why they unknowingly use the very truth that I'm teaching you this morning
to argue against God's Word. And they do it all the time. They'll say, "Well, the Bible was written
by a bunch of men. That's why we don't believe it." Y'all ever heard anyone say that?
And by this, they're acknowledging that man cannot depend on anything that originates with himself.
You see?
Yet having made that claim against God's Word, they'll turn right around and believe everything else that originates with man.
As Christians, we know that the Bible is divine,
rather than human in its origin. Origin is everything. God's Word is divine. That means it came from God.
It did not come from humanity. There is no way an honest person can learn the Bible and conclude that man
We've been spending over a year next door learning about the origins of the Bible, learning
about the inner workings of the Bible.
We spend week after week learning and seeing how the Bible intersects amazingly throughout
thousands of years of it being written by men that could not have communicated with
each other.
And even us studying the Bible still run across things and go, "Wow, I never saw that."
Well, they didn't either, but God did.
There's no way you can come to the conclusion that it originated with man.
The Bible confirms to us that we were created by the Word of God and not the other way around.
They say we're fools, but tell me.
Is it foolish to believe that creation came from a creator?
Is it foolish to believe that our amazing design came from an amazing designer?
Is it foolish to believe that the magnificent arrangement of the cosmos had a magnificent
a ranger, the laws of nature, which nobody denies had a lawgiver.
What law can you point to today that did not have a lawmaker?
They say it's all about science and observation.
We have a world full of laws, full of them.
From what law can we point to today that did not have a law maker?
And those laws get broken.
The laws God made for nature, for physics, they can't be broken, not without severe consequences.
We acknowledge that all things came from God and thus all things must depend on God.
And this idolatrous world on the other hand, it has it all backwards.
They think that everything came from nothing, therefore they have nothing they can depend
on.
Absolutely nothing.
They're absolutely hopeless.
Israel's idol came from Israel.
God said, look back in your text, the workman made it.
The workman made it.
And here is another important doctrine about Israel's calf, not just its origin, but the
fact that the workman made it.
trusted that calf to make them the nation they desired to be. But it couldn't. Why?
Because the workmen made it. They trusted that calf to make them the powerful, prosperous
nation they wanted to be, but that calf could not make them because they made the calf.
Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning. The work you make can never make you. The
you make can never make you. Now that's as logical as logic can get. When you say it,
Brother Shepherd, that's just as logical as it can get. That's as scientific as it can get.
And everyone knows I'm known for my scientific prowess. Suppose electric vehicles are real big
today. Very, very, at least they're trying to make them big, you know. There's a lot
of push for electric vehicles. Now suppose I want to go across country. Let's say that
I'm in California, God forbid, and I want to leave California and I want to go across
the country to the God bless state of Florida, which is like a sister state to us. And suppose
Sometimes I want to do that in one of the electric cars that got pushed on me in California,
but I want to do so without ever changing my, or charging my battery.
I never want to charge my battery.
I want to get in my EV.
I want to leave Florida in happiness, sorry, happiness being California in my rear view
mirror.
And I want to go to the God blessed state of Florida and I never want to stop to charge
my battery.
So to accomplish this, here's what I do.
I take this electric vehicle and I make a whole bunch of windmills, small, lightweight
windmills, and I stick all over the roof of that car.
And the reason being, I get in that car, I push the pedal, I accelerate up to 70 miles
an hour on the interstate, and as I'm going 70 miles an hour, I now have 70 mile an hour
wind.
That 70 mile an hour wind now goes through my windmills and everyone knows that 70 mile
an hour wind in a windmill is going to generate a lot of electricity, which isn't going to
go to my battery, which hopefully will then let my electric car go down the road indefinitely.
Now, to some people, that may sound like a good idea.
Brother Richard, how come Elon Musk hadn't thought about that?
Man, you can make a lot of money with that idea.
I mean, again, 70 mile an hour winds, that would generate a lot of electricity.
So, it may sound like a good idea, but it's logically and scientifically impossible, based
on what we're learning in the book of Hosea this morning.
The workman made it.
So, what are you talking about, Brother Richard?
Why could those 70 mile an hour winds not make my car go down the road?
simple because my car made those 70 mile an hour winds. You see? Though you could not have
the 70 mile an hour winds unless the car accelerated and created the 70 mile an hour winds by going
70 miles an hour. The work you make cannot make you. That's what God was trying to describe
to Israel, your God, the workman made it. He can't, that, that, that calf can't make
you the nation you want to be because the nation's what made that calf. Any religion
that tells you we are saved by our works is a lie. Is a lie. What's wrong with a religion
It says that your works can save you, your works can make you to be the person God wants
you to be.
And thus God will then accept you and take you to heaven.
What's wrong with a religion like that?
And the world's full of them.
Not just in Christianity, the world's full of them in all kinds of forms.
I'll tell you what's wrong with it.
The workman made it.
That's why.
The same reason that you can't drive an electric car with windmills on it indefinitely, it's
the same reason you can't go to heaven by your own works. Same reason you can't make
yourself the person that you are wanting to be. Anything you make cannot make you. You
got it? Turn to Ephesians chapter two please. The book of Ephesians chapter two. You talk
about scientific now. You talk about logical. That's the word of God is the word of God
every time. Ephesians chapter two, please. And if you're not there quick enough, you
see it right here on the screen, but it'd be great if you could take your pen and underscore
in your Bible.
Ephesians chapter two, and we're going to read verses eight through 10, which says this
For by grace are you saved through faith.
Now you know what grace is?
That's God's work.
You see?
That's God's work.
For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves.
What is that of yourselves?
That's the calf.
That's the calf of Israel.
That not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God.
Look here in verse nine.
"Not of works lest any man should boast."
Verse 10.
this, "For we are His workmanship." Now in salvation, who's the workman? We're His workmanship.
What a big difference. You see, with the golden, with the calf of Israel, that was Israel's
Workmanship the workman made it
with the Son of God and
Salvation through the Son of God versus the calf of Israel
God made it
God made us God made the gospel
The Holy Spirit came upon Mary in in her womb and and formed the Son of God
We are his
Workmanship since we came from him we can depend on him
Since the calf came from Israel the calf had to depend on Israel Israel couldn't depend on the calf
The work you make
cannot make
You I like it brothers don't thank you. That's almost like hearing an amen over there. I like it
For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Again, underscore, we are His workmanship.
God told Israel, "The workman made it."
Look back in your text now in Hosea 8.
Hosea 8, verse 6, "The workman made it,"
and then watch the conclusion, "If the workman made it," what?
"Therefore it is not God."
Man, this is good stuff right here, folks.
The workman made it, and if the workman made it, it's not God.
If you can go to heaven by your works, that's not God getting you to heaven,
that's you getting you to heaven.
If you can make yourself the person you want to be,
you're not God's workmanship, you're your own workmanship.
And you'll never make it across country, just that electric car.
You'll never make it to heaven, you'll never make it to the man that you're hoping to be,
or the woman that you're hoping to be.
The work of man is not God, therefore it cannot save the workmen.
You want to know what the difference is between every religion and every secular ideology
in this world compared to Christianity?
What's the difference?
In every religion, in every secular ideology, in Christianity, I'll tell you, it's simple.
With their religions, they are the workmen.
With Christianity, we are the workmanship.
Beautiful.
That's what I discovered when I sought God for the truth.
I want to know the truth, what the true religion was.
And I did not understand it this way.
I did not have the book of Hosea, but that's the principle I came across.
All the other religions in the world, they're the workmen, with the Son of God, salvation
by grace through faith in what He's done.
We are the workmanship.
Their calves are the works of their own hands.
We are the work of God created in Christ Jesus.
God shall live forever. Look back in your text in Hosea 8.6, "But the calf of Samaria
shall be broken in pieces." See that? This world has a shelf life. So anything made from
this world has a shelf life. Temporary gods could not give eternal life. What we make
from earth shall break like earth. Listen to the difference between the Son of God
and the calf of Israel. In the Gospel of John chapter 8, the Gospel of John chapter 8 verse
23, Jesus said unto them, "You are from beneath, I am from above; you are of this world, I
I am not of this world.
God said of the calf of Israel, it's from Israel.
Jesus said, I'm not from where you are.
You're from beneath, I'm from above.
I'm not from here.
He's not the calf of Israel, praise God.
What a difference between Christianity and secular ideology.
If you replace the son of God with the calf of Israel,
you know what you'd get?
calf would have told them, "You are from beneath. I am from you. You are of this
world. I am of this world also." Boy, what a great encouragement that would be.
And as they break, so will the calf. Could you imagine Jesus telling us
something like that? I think God, He didn't. Our Savior shall never be broken.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, the Bible says, but His word shall not pass away.
Where His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
I thank God I don't believe on the calf that came from Israel.
I believe on the Son of God that came down from heaven to give life unto the world.
And with that, God willing, we'll start back up in verse 7 next Sunday morning.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank You so much for Your precious Word.
I thank You, Father, for this simple yet powerful truth.
Thank You for pointing it out to us, Lord.
Thank You, Father, for pointing out, Father, the elephant in the room,
That this world seems to constantly miss
Thank you Lord that salvation
Is the work of God and we are the workmanship
That Jesus did the work and we receive it
Thank you Lord that he came from above
He's the bread that came down from heaven to give life unto the world
that we depend on you. Therefore you are a God that can be depended on. In Jesus'
precious name, if there's anyone here this morning who does not believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, who does not depend on Him for the work that He's done on the
cross, His death and His resurrection, I pray they'll get with me or Brother
the shepherd this morning and let us know so we can share with Him, Father, the way,
the truth, and the life. In His name we pray. Amen.
