DISCOURSE: 1175 DIRECTIONS FOR AN ACCEPTABLE APPROACH TO GOD Hosea 14:1. _O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1176 THE BLESSINGS THAT PENITENTS MAY EXPECT Hosea 14:4. _I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him_. MEN who have never seen the evil of sin are ready to imagine that God will not punish: under the idea of advancing the attribute of m... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1177 THE FRUITS OF GOD’S FAVOUR Hosea 14:5. _I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; th... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1178 GOD’S NOTICE OF PENITENTS Hosea 14:8. _Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard_ him, _and observed him: I am like a green fir-tree: from me_ is _thy fruit found_. THE conversion of a sinner is a work of infinite difficulty; no efforts of the creature c... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1179 SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE PECULIAR TO GOD’S PEOPLE Hosea 14:9. _Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein_. TO guide mankind into the way... [ Continue Reading ]