* “And it will be: Like people, like priests.”
* This is supposed to be the other way around.
* The priests were to lead and influence the people to be more like them.
* But these priests were not leading and they were allowing the people to influence them.
* Their goal was to become more like the people.
* Why?
* I think it’s the same reason we see it happening today - they focus on relevance and lose sight of reverence.
* They desire to be attractive to win people over.
* But the result is they end up blending in with the very crowd they’re supposed to be setting an example for.
* We are all priests today and we should stand out like a chocolate chip in the cookie dough of culture.
Hosea 4:9 (12/6/18)
Priests
December 6, 2018 • Benham Brothers
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Lessons From Hosea
Hosea 1:2 (12/5/13)
December 5, 2013 • Benham Brothers
God had to "make" Hosea the message before he could speak the message Before God does something THROUGH you He wants to do something IN you He didn't want Hosea to just speak the word, He wanted him to live it first Hosea 2 was God's message - "Israel has cheated on me and I will punish her, but then I'll take her back!" Hosea 3 - God now tells Hosea to "do" the very thing He was going to do for Israel - take his adultrous wife back! Rev 12 - 3 ways to overcome the devil: 1) Blood of Lamb 2) Word of Testimony 3) Not loving your life A testimony is powerful! It's a first-hand experience of God working in and through you God gave Hosea a testimony before He gave him a message The question is - do you have a testimony? Often times it's a choice
Hosea 2:2 (12/6/18)
December 6, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* God rebukes his people for three things. * These same three things will rip apart a marriage, as it did Hosea’s: * 1) Idolatry - competing affections. * God must be #1 in your life or you violate the law of priority. * 2) Ingratitude - this is received as rejection. * Ingratitude separates those who should be joined together. * 3) Hypocrisy - they said one thing but did another. * You cannot live a secret life.
Hosea 2:14 (12/7/17)
December 7, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* This is a great verse for men who’ve lost their loving feeling for theirs wives. * Allure - the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating. * In dating attraction leads to affection. * Then we get married and things will inevitably change as real life hits. * But in marriage it’s reversed - affection leads to attraction. * Affection - a bent of mind toward a particular object. * Affection takes place in the mind first. * Matthew 6:21 - Jesus tells us where our treasure is there our hearts will be also. * Our hearts will go where our minds take them. * Our attraction will go where our affection takes it. * Hosea 2:14 shows us this - even though the Israelites had cheated on God, He was going to win them back through the power of allure. * God would “speak tenderly” to her (affection) and this would win her back (attraction). * So do you want to be mysteriously and powerfully attractive to your spouse again? * Then be proactively affectionate even if you don’t want to, and just watch what happens.