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[music] I've come through many hard trials, through temptations on every hand. Though Satan tried to stop me and place my feet

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♪ On sinking sand ♪ ♪ Through the pain and all of my sorrows ♪ ♪ Through the tears and all of my fears ♪ ♪ The Lord was there to keep me ♪

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♪ For he's kept me in the midst of it all ♪ ♪ Not because I've been so faithful, no, no, no ♪ ♪ Not because I've always obeyed ♪ ♪ No, it's not because I've trusted him ♪

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♪ To be with me all of the way ♪ ♪ But it's because he loved me so dearly ♪ ♪ Yes he loved me ♪ ♪ He was there to answer my call ♪

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♪ He was there always to protect me ♪ ♪ For he's kept me in the midst of it all ♪ [MUSIC] ♪ Temptation on every hand ♪

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♪ Oh, Satan's plot to stop me ♪ ♪ And to place my feet ♪ ♪ On sinking sand ♪ ♪ Because Jesus loves me dearly ♪

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♪ He was there to answer my call ♪ ♪ Was there always to protect me ♪ ♪ For he's the King of Estonia ♪ ♪ And of the Eritrea ♪

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♪ To temptation on every hand ♪ ♪ Old Satan's tried to stop me ♪ ♪ And to place my feet ♪ ♪ My feet on ♪

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♪ On sinking sand ♪ ♪ Because he just loves me dearly ♪ ♪ He was there to answer my call ♪ ♪ Was there always to protect me ♪

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♪ For he's the filaments of it all ♪ ♪ No, he's never left me ♪ ♪ And he's never, never let me go ♪ ♪ Oh yes, he will, he will protect you ♪

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♪ For he's got feelings for you ♪ ♪ Oh, he's never let me go ♪ ♪ He will protect you ♪ ♪ Never let me fall ♪

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♪ Oh yes, he will protect you ♪ ♪ For he's in the midst of it all ♪ - Who said the Lord unto me? Go yet, love a woman, the love of her friend, yet an adulteress according to the love of

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the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love flagons of wine." Hosea, the third chapter and the first verse. The subject of the message, "I Can't Stop Loving You." This is a story to which I return from time to time, because God has so much to say to

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us in this story. And it is ours to listen and obey. Some things we do in response to a request or an order from others. things we do because we just can't help it. We do it because of an irresistible urge and

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a compelling spirit. Betty King was deeply concerned about the girl young Martin Luther King, Jr. would marry. So from time to time, the son reported to his father on the progress he was making in that direction.

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When the report was made, young Martin informed his father of the girl he wanted to marry. Daddy King responded, "Martin? I would not marry that girl if I could help it." young Martin submitted another name and heard the same words and finally he

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submitted Coretta as the person he submitted that name and he heard the same words from his father Martin I wouldn't marry Coretta if I could help And Martin responded in this case, "Daddy, I'm going to marry Coretta because I just can't help it.

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I can't stop loving you." This is the word that expresses a constant concern on the part of one of the leading characters in what is regarded as the crown of Old Testament narratives. Love is the mainstream of life.

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It is said by Eric Fond that one of the problems we have in not loving is that we do not work at it. And he says love is an art which we should constantly work on and seek to develop. One dollar puts it in these words, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return." Paul says that it is the most excellent way to love. It is the sumum bonum of life, love.

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And there are many human loves, but this love is the divine love. As we sing so often, "Love divine, all loves excelling." "Joy of heaven to earth come down, fix in us thy humble dwelling." all thy faithful mercies crowned."

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That was the prophet, a spokesperson for the eternal, who lived in Israel by the name of Hosea. Those of us who hear a great deal of Spanish have a name similar to it in that language, "Jose."

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But this is a biblical name, "Jose." We have a saying, "No way, Jose." But this man was given the Hebrew name Hosea, which means "help" or "deliverance." Hosea, I said, is a prophet of the eternal Word.

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He was a prisoner of love. He lived in the 8th century, a time regarded as the golden age of Hebrew prophecy. It was a time of political unrest when rapid changes were occurring in the rulers of Israel and Judah. This man, Hosea, was under divine orders.

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He acts because he is compelled by an irresistible spirit. He just can't help it. Hosea received the command from the Lord, Go and take to yourself an adulterous wife.

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At first, Hosea wonders whether or not he's really hearing the voice of God. "You mean me, Lord?" Go and marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has strange lovers. Yes, Hosea, this is a word for you.

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But Lord, she's a prostitute. She's regarded as a whore, and that's a bad word. in the society in which I move, it describes an abominable, detestable, and destructive kind of lifestyle. And you mean for me, your preacher, the reverend, the pastor, this, your word for me?

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Yes, there was a "Go and marry Goma." Goma was not the kind of prostitute identified with modern-day houses of ill repute, like that described in "The Best Little Whorehouse of Texas," not too far from here. Gona was a temple prostitute.

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She was one of those connected with Baal worship, idol worship. She was regarded as a holy whore, a respectable adulterer. Religious prostitutes engage in acts involving the total self, involving the mind, the soul, and the body. Hosea is commanded by God to love Goma, a prostitute.

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So, he falls in love with Gomer because he just can't help it. He's aware of the inclinations toward adultery. He'd heard the word before he received his command. But at the command of God, he falls in love with her anyhow. He knows her faults, he knows her shortcomings, but he just can't help it.

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And we often wonder why some people marry the persons they do. It's because they just can't help it. The love, Hosea, is commanded to express. God provides the way for him to obey.

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He just can't help it. So, when we engage in a period of courtship, as in engagement, and then wedding bells and the honeymoon.

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One follows the other like clockwork. Hosea showers his young bride with tender affection and generous gifts. He constantly whispers in her ear, "I just can't stop loving you." And he embraces her, holds her close to his bosom.

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Glamour is a warm and enthusiastic recipient of Hosea's love. She responds to his overtures, "Oh, it was a marriage, some marriage that some said was made in heaven." Hosea loved Gomer with all of his heart. But what about Gomer's love for Hosea?

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Well, for a while they were lovey-dovey. But after a while, Hosea began to wonder. Gomer becomes pregnant, and sometimes the birth of a child strengthens the marriage. They may be growing apart, but a child is born and some think that that will strengthen it.

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But such was not the case with Hosea and Goma. This first child was given the name Jezreel. And this name denotes that all is not well within the family circle. There is a growing coldness.

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There was an expanding wideness, a distance between husband and wife. Jezreel, you've got plants. Jezreel, a valley of beauty, had been marred by violence and tragedy. Jezreel also means that God's souls, this place is the birthplace of the divinely appointed place

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where God will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And although punishment is inherent in the relationship, the husband keeps on loving because he says in his heart, "I just can't stop loving you. I just can't stop loving you."

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So another child is born whose name is Loru Haimah, which means "no compassion." It means also "unpity." The Lord will have no compassion on Israel. She cannot escape the punishment that awaits her.

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The nation will receive punishment in due time. And he tells the nation not to expect any sympathy, don't expect any kindness to be shown you at the outset. Yet, he says, "I just can't stop loving you."

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And in the course of time, a third child is born and given the name "Not my people" or "One of mine." So, José, by this time, may have become suspicious, very suspicious, I might add, to Goma's behavior.

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Her long, unaccounted-for absences from home. Maybe she had started attracting strange lovers. The name of this son points to an impending crisis within the family. There is a sign of national catastrophe.

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The marriage bond is broken. The covenant relationship is in jeopardy. When they were married, at the outset, the pronouncement was, "You are mine, and I am yours." But now, the covenant relationship is broken, and the Lord says to Israel,

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"You are not my people, and I am not your God." Bastard children are in the family. Unacceptable behavior. But there is a loving husband,

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and he keeps on saying, "I just can't stop loving you." Gorman initiates the divorce. Hosea sees signs all around him that this last child is not mine.

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He had suspicions about the first one. But now he is absolutely and completely convinced. But he goes on. Go on, go on.

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Initiates action to separate. She deserts her loving husband, and she goes after strange lovers. She just goes down, moves out, takes her things with her, moves to a neighborhood of ill repute, and is seen constantly with strange men.

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She goes down, down, down, until she hits rock bottom. But Hosea continues to say in his heart of hearts, "I can't stop loving you." God loves us. Although Israel has gone a-whoring after false gods, God still loves Israel.

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And he cries, so to speak, saying, "How can I give you up, O Ephraim?" And he loves and continues to love us in that manner. She waits and waits for Gomer to return to Him. Israel's worship is a mixture of Baal and Yahwehism.

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She has forgotten her history. She has forgotten God's mighty deeds in the deliverance of His people. So she must suffer. She must suffer. And so the Lord speaks to Hosea after Gomer has left him,

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for other relationships that are adulterous. Hosea is sorrowful. He has a heavy heart. And he's seen frequently around places where Goma is, and it seems like he's stalking her

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because he just can't stop loving Goma. He goes, there she is, and lingers time and time again because he has this persistent relationship that he feels in his heart. And the Lord speaks to Hosea while Gomer is away, separated from him.

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The tabloids talk about the Reverend's wife, and what is going to happen to Reverend Hosea, and he's looked upon in a strange manner as he goes up and down the streets, but still in his heartful heart he hears this word being repeated over and over again,

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"I just can't stop loving you." And the Lord speaks to Hosea saying, "Go and yet love a woman, yet." In spite of all that's happened, Hosea, "Go and yet love this same woman. Go get her." I know she has mistreated you. I know she's drifted. I know she's been rebellious.

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yet, go back, go get her." And Hosea says, "I went, I obeyed the Lord, and I brought her back for fifteen pieces of silver." I can see it now as he takes them out of hand And they walked back to that house that Goma had once occupied before she returned. And I was preaching this sermon some years ago, and after the service was over, someone came up to me and said,

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I'll never be that weak. I'll never be that weak. Well, Brothers and Sisters, maybe he will never be that weak, but the truth of the matter is maybe he'll never be that strong. Because what we're really talking about here is strength to love. Martin Luther King puts it in the title of one of his books. Strength to love. It takes strength to love. When adulterous relationships are all around you and you've been misled and you've been deceived over and over again, it takes strength to love in a situation like that.

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But believe me when I tell you that that's the kind of love God has for us. That's the kind of love. Every one of us is like Gomer in some way. We all fall short of the mark. We've all drifted away from God. In the midst of it all, God has come with open arms. He's waiting for us to change.

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Every one of us. None of us can boast of our goodness. God is good. So we say love divine, all love is excelling, all human love. There's love beyond all where we have our sexual attractions, we have our fraternal relationships, we have our family relationships,

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but oh, there is a love above all of this. It's the love of God that we need in our hearts We need to share with one another Roma

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Goes back And occupies her place as Queen in that home and Somebody has to be have making what he was going to do with the South when the war was over in the South to come back

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how would he treat them? He said, "I will treat them as if they never left." Did you hear that? "I'll treat them as if they never left." This is the love God calls upon us to have. All of us fall short of it. That's why you need to hear it. You really need to hear it over and over again. Because we fall short of it.

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When I was born, my mother didn't want me. So she gave me to her sister. And she read me. And she never mentioned it.

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I got some inkling of it, but I could never tell it. Because she never stopped loving me. Never stopped loving me. I don't want to forget, I have to stop loving.

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But one day, you know how we are, I got on my high horses, I got a little fancy. And my mother said, "You just don't know!" And she brought the news to me from my own lips.

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And I shall never forget that. I shall never forget because I began to realize more and more But I had someone who never, never, never, never stopped loving me. And that's the most wonderful thing that you can have in this life.

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Because it's that love. It's that love that reached out for me. I was sinking deep and thin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within,

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and seeking to rise no more. But, but, but the master of the sea heard my despairing cry and from the water lifted me not to Emma. And so I'd like to just say I can't stop loving God.

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I just can't. He's done too much for me. He's brought me so far. He lifted me up from the waters that were so deep in sin.

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I can't stop. Others may be insulting, others may look this way and that way and do this and that, but I can't stop loving God. As we extend now to Him our invitation.

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We invite you to come. [applause] To come. To come accept this God as the Lord of your life.

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[applause] Come. There's an open door he sets before us. [applause] Come. There's an open door.

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[dramatic music] Come. [dramatic music] Come.

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[Music] [choral singing] ♪ Of the Lord ♪ ♪ The end has come ♪

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♪ And with it ♪ ♪ We go ♪ ♪ Come here by day ♪ ♪ And draw the bright ♪

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♪ Sun is set to ♪ ♪ Is wrong ♪ ♪ I love the Lord ♪ ♪ He heard my cry ♪

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♪ And he pities every ♪ ♪ Every, every ground ♪ ♪ Long as I live ♪ ♪ And troubles rise ♪

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♪ I'll haste unto ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ I'm gonna hasten to my God's throne ♪ ♪ I love the Lord ♪

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'Cause he did something else to me. ♪ He heard ♪ ♪ He heard my cry ♪ ♪ And he pitted, pitted every ♪

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♪ Every little groan ♪ ♪ Yes, he did ♪ ♪ Long as I live ♪ ♪ And troubles rise ♪

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♪ I'm gonna get on a hurry ♪ ♪ I'm gonna haste ♪ ♪ I'm gonna haste ♪ ♪ Unto my God's throne ♪

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♪ It's such amazing grace ♪ ♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ ♪ Just like me ♪

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♪ I want to love ♪ ♪ Right now, right now ♪ ♪ I want to love ♪ [Music]

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♪ I can see ♪ ♪ I love the Lord ♪ ♪ Because he bowed his ear ♪ This is what he did.

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♪ And chased my greed ♪ [BLANK_AUDIO]