KJV

KJV

Click to Change

Return to Top

Return to Top

Printer Icon

Print

Prior Book Prior Section Back to Commentaries Author Bio & Contents Next Section Next Book
The Blue Letter Bible

Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for Hosea 2:8, 9

toggle collapse
Choose a new font size and typeface
"MISUSED GIFTS"
I. FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE SOURCE OF OUR BLESSINGS.
A. We need to remember, "Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above."
1. "Don't tell me that God gave me this success. I worked hard for these things."
a. Where did you get your strength?
b. Who kept you healthy?
2. "I earned this by using my head."
a. Where did you get your brains?
b. Fine line between genius and insanity.
1. Nebuchadnezzar no doubt a genius.
2. He crossed over the line for seven seasons.
3. How people love to boast, "I am a self-made man."
a. That just isn't' true.
b. "It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves."
B. Paul asked, "What have you that you have not received?"
1. Take a look at your blessings.
2. Looking at the plus side of the column, it all came from God.
C. God said of Israel, "She did not know that I gave her the corn, and wine, and oil..."
II. FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE TRUE SOURCE OF THE GIFTS LEADS TO A TRAGIC MISUSE OF THE GIFTS. "WHICH THEY PREPARED FOR BAAL."
A. God may give to one, talent.
1. He uses that talent to promote evil.
2. Maybe he has a great singing ability.
a. He sings suggestive songs that debase men's minds.
3. Maybe he's a talented writer.
a. He writes stories that inflame men's passions.
4. Maybe God has given you beauty.
a. You use your beauty to entice others into sin.
B. Tragic that men will take the voice that God has given him and use it to curse God.
1. Some take the knowledge God has given them and use it to seek to destroy other men's faith in God.
C. It is only God's great love that has kept us from being destroyed.
1. How long would you feed a dog that viciously attacked you every time you approached him?
2. How long would you keep a cat that would attack and try to kill your baby?
a. "It is God's mercies that we are not completely consumed."
III. THE CONTINUED FAILURE TO RECOGNIZE THE SOURCE OF OUR BLESSINGS CAN LEAD TO THE LOSS OF THEM. "THEREFORE, I WILL RETURN AND TAKE AWAY THE CORN IN THE TIME THEREOF..."
A. God said: "My Spirit will not always strive with man."
1. Do not mistake the patience of God as blindness.
2. Do not mistake the longsuffering of God as approval.
3. Do not mistake the mercy of God as weakness.
B. God said to the church of Thyatira, "I gave her space to repent, but she repented not."
1. God gives you space to repent.
2. "Therefore --- I cast her... "
3. You maybe are living even now in that space.
C. God is not under any obligation to sustain you.
1. As of the fruitless tree that had been cultivated and cared for but remained fruitless, He may order "cut it down, why encombereth it the ground."
Sermon Notes for Daniel 12:6 ← Prior Section
Sermon Notes for Hosea 4:1 Next Section →
Sermon Notes for Daniel 1:8 ← Prior Book
Sermon Notes for Joel 2:12 Next Book →
BLB Searches
Search the Bible
KJV
 [?]

Advanced Options

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval
x
KJV

Daily Devotionals
x

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

Daily Bible Reading Plans
x

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

Two-Year Plan

CONTENT DISCLAIMER:

The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.