Psalm 124

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 146:1-10
• Hymn — Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah (#57)
• Westminster Shorter Catechism — Questions 43 & 44
• Hymn — His Robes for Mine
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn — Rock of Ages (#499)

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Sermon Title: The Danger of the Self-Made Nation

Scripture: Hosea 8:1-14

I. A Self-Made Kingdom (Hosea 8:4, 14)

A. Self-made kings and princes (Hosea 8:4)

1. Israel set up rulers without divine sanction — "they made kings, but not through me"
2. Derek Kidner traces this pattern from Abimelech (Judges 9) to "not this man, but Barabbas" (John 18)
3. Israel's desire for a king like the nations — popular opinion drowning out the law of God (1 Samuel 8)
4. The warning of Deuteronomy 8: do not say "my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth"

B. Self-made structures and monuments (Hosea 8:14)

1. Israel forgot its Maker and built palaces; Judah multiplied fortified cities
2. The eye deceives — impressive cities become cesspools of lawlessness
3. The Kingdom of Heaven conceived not in Herod's temple or Caesar's palace, but in a stable; the cross inverts all worldly measures of glory
4. Modesty is the antidote to self-made kingdoms built only to turn to ash

II. A Self-Made Religion (Hosea 8:4-6, 11-13)

A. The origin of self-made religion (Hosea 8:4-6)

1. Self-made wealth always serves self-made religion — hearts are perpetual idol factories (Calvin)
2. The golden calf of Exodus 32 and Jeroboam's calves at Dan and Bethel — pagan forms used to worship Yahweh
3. "It is not God" — what comes from man is not God, however the name of God is attached to it
4. Application: churches that ordain women as pastors, affirm homosexuality, preach social gospel in place of substitutionary atonement, or fail to protect life in the womb — Hosea's voice rings out, "that is not God"

B. Three things self-made religion does (Hosea 8:11-13)

1. It exacerbates sin (v. 11) — multiplied altars without God's glory only add sin upon sin; all the show of piety with none of the substance
2. It makes godly religion a strange thing (v. 12) — denominations that drift from truth find biblical orthodoxy alien and unwelcome
3. It is always self-serving (v. 13) — like Hophni and Phinehas consuming the sacrifices (1 Samuel 2); the church uses the name of Christ to win worldly acclaim and avoid persecution

C. The result: return to Egypt (Hosea 8:13)

1. Literal fulfillment in the Assyrian captivity — a portion of Israel shipped to Egypt
2. Symbolic meaning: return to the unredeemed status of "not my people" (Hosea 1:8-9)
3. Self-made religion is not progress but regress — back into bondage with no God to save

III. Self-Made Alliances (Hosea 8:7-10)

A. A self-made religious alliance (v. 7)

1. Israel sowed the wind through Baal worship (cult prostitution at shrines to stir fertility) and reaped the whirlwind — no produce, no offspring
2. The whirlwind is a symbol of Yahweh's judgment

B. A self-made political alliance (vv. 8-10)

1. Israel like a stubborn wild donkey makes alliances with Assyria for security (Hosea 8:9)
2. The world promises much — "put away what divides us and together we can make a name for ourselves" (echoing the tower of Babel and the serpent's promise to Eve)

C. The double consequence: a useless vessel (Hosea 8:8)

1. Israel becomes useless to Yahweh — and useless to the very nations it aligned with
2. Assyria and Babylon, promised allies, became the very instruments of God's wrath
3. The church that joins hands with the world becomes a pawn — a faithful church is a thorn in Satan's side, so alliances are a ploy to neutralize it
4. The result is both pathetic and wicked — unfaithful to the Lord who called his people

D. Closing application

1. The church must remain the church — a God-made people, fashioned only through the God-man Jesus Christ
2. We must have deaf ears to the siren call to set aside doctrine and sanctified ears to hear the command of our King speaking through his Word