DISCOURSE: 1153 THE CHARACTERISTIC MARKS OF TRUE PENITENCE Hosea 6:1. _Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up_. THE spiritual dereliction which the people of God have at times experienced, has ever been considered as the... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1154 THE EFFECTS OF DILIGENCE IN RELIGION Hosea 6:3. _Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth_. THEY, who are strongly attached to human systems,... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1155 MAN’S INSTABILITY AND GOD’S FORBEARANCE Hosea 6:4. _O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away_. WHEREVER the Gospel is faithfully preached, some are savingly converted by it.... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1156 MERCY BEFORE SACRIFICE Hosea 6:6. _I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings_. THERE is a disposition in every man to substitute external observances for the devotion of the heart; and to rest satisfied with rendering to God some easy serv... [ Continue Reading ]
DISCOURSE: 1157 OUR TRANSGRESSIONS OF THE COVENANT Hosea 6:7. _But they, like men, have transgressed the covenant_. THE merciful nature of God’s dispensations greatly aggravates our guilt in violating his commandments. The law indeed which he imposed upon the Jews was in some respects an intolerabl... [ Continue Reading ]