Hosea 11:8,9

Reader! pause over those precious words, and ponder well their gracious meaning. Admah and Zeboim, were the cities the Lord destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 29:23. Now, as the inhabitants of those cities merited punishment, so did Ephraim and Israel, considered in themselves. For, as the Apostle justly reasons upon another occasion, the same doctrine holds equally good here. Are we then better than they? Romans 3:9. But the Lord refers their salvation into himself, and his own unchangeable nature, and unchangeable purposes in Christ. This is the most blessed of all doctrines, and the most gracious to our poor fallen nature. Oh! for grace, to refer all the glory, and all the praise, where alone it is due. The Lord hath himself provided a remedy in the blood and righteousness of his dear Son; and in his own faithful and unchangeable covenant promises, and in the great plan of redemption hath secured the everlasting salvation of his people.