PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Horae Homileticae — Volume 10 of 21
Simeon, Charles, 1759-1836 · 271,947 words · 591 reading sections
Hosea
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321 wordsSECTION 2Malachi
1240 1241 1242, 1 243, 1244 1245. 1246. 1247. 1248. 1249. 1250. 1251. 1252. 1253. 1254. 1255. 1256. 1257. 1258. 1259. 1260. 1261. 1262. 1263. 1264. 1265. 1266. 1267. 1268. 1269. 1270. 1271. 1272. 1273. 1274. 1275. 1276, 1277, Text. Subject. ii. 5. ii. 8. iii. 1—5. iv. 6. iv. …
355 wordsSECTION 3God Corrects And Reclaims His People.
Hos. ii. 6, 7. Behold, 1 will hedge up thy way tvith thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them ; then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it b…
266 wordsSECTION 42 Hose A, Ii. 6,7. [1142.
A remarkable proof of this we have in the passage before us. The Jews were continually provoking God to jealousy, by depending on alliances with hea- thens, and worshipping their idols. God, ever slow to anger, and delighting in mercy, used all possible methods to reclaim them. He had tried what kind- ness would …
365 wordsSECTION 51142.1 God Corrects And Reclaims His People. 3
Thus we have our idols which we are prone to follow, not- withstanding all the troubles or convictions that are sent to wean us from them. Perhaps the world is the object of our affections ; and we weary ourselves in the pursuit of its honours or emoluments. God therefore secretly blasts our endeavours, as he did …
430 wordsSECTION 64 Hosea, Ii. G, 7. [1142.
[It once appeared folly to serve God : but now this sen- timent is reversed. Even in the days of their unregeneracy they had a secret thought, that the godly, whom they de- spised, were happier than themselves. But, when divinely instructed, they see that they have been " feeding upon ashes, and that a deceived he…
680 wordsSECTION 76 Hosea, Ii. 14, 15. [1143.
h Numb. xxii. 22 — 33. ' Mic. vi. 9. god's dealings with penitents. Hos. ii. 14, 15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her : and I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope. WHOEVER is at all conversant wit…
976 wordsSECTION 88 Hose A, Ii. 14, 15. [1143.
knowing what depravity and deceitfulness there is in the human heart, he concludes that he shall now bear down all before him : the corruptions of his own heart seem to be so mortified, as to be almost extinct : the world now is as nothing in his eyes : and Satan himself, formidable as he is, now appears to be " b…
510 wordsSECTION 91143.1 God'S Dealings With Penitents. 9
dearest friend to be a grievous interruption. But, however true the words are in this sense, 1 apprehend the other to be the better version of them ; and therefore passing by this, we observe further, That God will speak comfortably to those whom he thus allures. He makes his word now to be exceed- ing precious to…
484 wordsSECTION 1010 Hosea, Ii. 14, 15. [1143.
means by it a supply of every temporal blessing, which he will bestow upon them from the very instant that they thus return unto him. If therefore we apply this spiritually, we may understand by it a supply of all spiritual blessings, which God will vouchsafe to his people from the time that they come to him with …
533 wordsSECTION 111143.] God'S Dealings With Penitents. 11
in himself no strength, either to withstand one temptation, or to overcome one enemy. Under such circumstances, he would soon faint and be weary, but that God has engaged to support him in every trial, and make him conqueror over every enemy. But when he knows, that " his strength shall be according to his day ;" …
476 wordsSECTION 1212 Hosea, Ii. 14,15. [1143.
who are here present have just begun to taste the joys of religion : you have peace with God in your consciences ; and can scarcely think of any thing but the goodness of God to your souls. I would to God this might always remain; or rather, that it might increase more and more ; and that you might so learn divine…
1,011 wordsSECTION 13God Betrothing Us To Himself.
Hos. ii. 19. 20. I will betroth thee unto me for ever ; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness : and thou shalt know the Lord. THERE are various figures used in Scripture to represent the care whic…
328 wordsSECTION 141144.] God Betrothing Us To Himself. 15
perfect consistency with his own honour. He tells us, He will do it " in righteousness," having accepted the sacrifice of his only dear Son in their behalf f. He will do it "in judg- ment," having from all eternity determined so to act towards themg. He will do it "in loving-kindness," having " loved them with an …
399 wordsSECTION 1516 Hosea, Ii. 19, 20. [1144.
He is the Bridegroom of his Church P; and every true Chris- tian, as well as the whole body of his Church, is presented to him under the character of his spouse q. True, we have de- parted grievously from him, and may justly be put away by him for ever. But he authorizes his ministers to bring us back to him, and …
491 wordsSECTION 16The Restoration Of The Jews.
in it, and express, every thing according to its ability, its desire to contribute to their happiness15 Do ye also look forward to the event with ardent desire, and exert your- selves in every possible way to promote its speedy consum- mation.] 2. Accept with gratitude the overtures now made in reference to yours…
356 wordsSECTION 1718 Hosea, Iii. 5. [1145.
of his promise ; and then, when the Israelites them- selves were almost reduced to despair, he brought them out with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm. Thus also will he act yet once more towards that chosen people. They are now dispersed almost beyond the hope of conversion to God. But there is a period when…
382 wordsSECTION 181145.1 The Restoration Of The Jews. 19
In turning to God, they shall be peculiarly in- fluenced by the Divine goodness — [The sanctions of the Jewish law were principally of a penal nature, and calculated to beget a servile spirit. Even Moses himself at the giving of the law exceedingly trembled and quaked f. But, as formerly they feared the Lord and h…
427 wordsSECTION 1920 Hosea, Iii. 5. [1145.
distinguished by these two great peculiarities, — an incapacity to worship their own God according to his appointment, and an aversion to idolatry, to which their whole nation were so long and so obstinately addicted. This then is to the whole world an evidence, that the Scriptures are divinely inspired, and a ple…
480 wordsSECTION 201146.] Ignorance Destructive. 21
they added that of crucifying the Lord of glory : and yet are they not utterly and eternally cast off. Nay, when once the Spirit of God shall be poured out upon them, they shall, con- trary to the course of nature, be like a majestic river " flowing up to the mountain of the Lord's house, itself established on the…
271 wordsSECTION 2122 Hose A, Iv. 6. [1146.
Hos. iv. 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knoivledge. IGNORANCE, as it respects the things of this world, is attended with many evils. It disqualifies a man for those situations in life that require the exercise of wisdom and discretion ; it degrades him in society below the rank of those who would other- w…
509 wordsSECTION 221146.1 Ignorance Destructive. 23
What know they of his truth ? They read many threaten- ings in his word ; but they do not believe that he will execute them11.] 3. Of Christ— [They confess perhaps his Godhead, and acknowledge him as a Saviour. But what know they of him as he is in himself? Do they discern his beauty, his excellency, his glory ? …
380 wordsSECTION 2324 Hosea, Iv. 6. [1146.
salvation? If a man, feeling himself in imminent danger of perishing in the sea, cannot but avail himself of the assist- ance offered him for the preservation of his life, so neither can a man who feels his danger of everlasting destruction neglect and despise the salvation offered him in the Gospel.] 2. Will issu…
414 wordsSECTION 24The Evil And Danger Of Backsliding.
prudent1. Let us then beg that our eyes may be opened, and that through the influences of the Spirit we may know the things which are freely given to us of Gods.] 3. How thankful should we be for any measure of divine knowledge ! [To be wise unto salvation is to be wise indeed. All other knowledge is as nothing i…
340 wordsSECTION 2520 Hosea, Iv. 16. [1147.
I. When we may be said to resemble a backsliding heifer — We owe submission to our heavenly Master ; but give too much reason for the comparison in the text. This resemblance may be seen in us, 1. When we will not draw in God's yoke at all — _ [Unconverted men in every age and place are rebels against Godb: and,…
430 wordsSECTION 261147.] Evil And Danger Of Backsliding. 27
to the yoke for a season, becomes restive and ungovernable, and disappoints thereby the expectations of its owner.] Lest the frequency of these characters should tempt us to think favourably of them, we proceed to shew, 1 1. The evil and danger of such a state — We shall notice, 1. The evil of it — [A backslidd…
418 wordsSECTION 2728 Hosea, Iv. 16. [1147.
to certain and everlasting perdition?:" and " it would have been better for him never to have known the way of righteousness, than, after having known it, to turn back from itq." Let these consequences be duly weighed, and nothing need be added to shew us the importance of " holding fast our pro- fession without w…
435 wordsSECTION 28The Danger Of Spiritual Idolatry.
serving God. Surely He is a good Master. Let but your hearts be right with him, and " none of his commandments will appear grievous to youy :" on the contrary, you will find that " in keeping his commandments there is great reward2," and that your labour shall not be in vain with respect to the eternal world. " Be…
324 wordsSECTION 2930 Hosea, Iv. 17. [1148.
" held fast deceit, and refused to return to the Lord our Godd" ] But this sin must of necessity provoke God to anger. II. Their punishment — The text may be understood as an advice to Judah, not to hold intercourse with the idolatrous Israelites. Our Lord gives a similar direction to his followers6 — But it ra…
548 wordsSECTION 3032 Hosea, V. 4. [1149.
the extent and causes of men's supineness. Hos. v. 4. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God : for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord. WHEN we exhort men to duty, they plead their inability to perform it ; but their inability is, in fact, a want of i…
714 wordsSECTION 3132 Hosea, V. 4. [1149.
To account for this supineness, let us trace it up to, II. The causes of it — Persons, when convicted of evil doings, will yet affirm their hearts to be good. But can a tree be good whose fruits are uniformly bad? The causes of this evil are justly described by the prophet : 1. They love sin — [" Whoredom" is …
251 wordsSECTION 3234. Hosea, V. 4. [1149.
In their hearts they " imagine him to be even such an one as themselves." This is another, and a very fruitful source of their supineness. To this St. Paul ascribes the evil of their hearts and lives m. If they knew his power and majesty, could they dare thus to provoke him? If they beheld his holiness, could they…
456 wordsSECTION 33The Danger Of Pride.
Hos. v. 5. The pride of Israel doth testify to his face : there- fore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity j Judah also shall fall with them. ALL profess to hate pride ; yet all are more or less infected with it. The very best of men are not wholly free from its influence. But, in the unre- generate, i…
356 wordsSECTION 3436 Hosea, V. 5. [1150.
the Lord ; neither will we obey his voice d. That this proceeds from pride, there can be no doubt. God himself traces such conduct to this, as its proper source and principle6. And doth not this " testify to the face " of many amongst us ? Is not this the conduct which almost universally obtains ? Yea, are not we …
492 wordsSECTION 351150.] The Danger Of Pride. 37
religion prevailed in so great a degree. Surely it may well be numbered among the most heinous sins of this favoured land.] Having followed the sin of Israel, what can we expect but to participate in, II. The judgment denounced against it — To " fall " must certainly import some heavy judg- ment. This threatening…
409 wordsSECTION 3638 Hosea, V. 5. [1150.
shall the whole universe combined prevent the execution of his vengeance on one single individual amongst themz.] The observance of ceremonial duties will never compensate for the want of true humility — [Judah retained the forms of religion which Israel and Ephraim had cast away. Yet because Judah resembled Israe…
437 wordsSECTION 37The Folly Of Creature-Confidence.
Hos. v. 13. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb : yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. MEN continually provoke God to chastise them, but rarely make a due improvement of his chastise- ments. Instead of turning to God, …
350 wordsSECTION 3840 Hosea, V. 13. [1151.
friends, or our own exertions. God is invariably our la&t refuge.] 2. In spiritual troubles — [Under conviction of sin, we betake ourselves to the ob- servance of duties, and make resolutions to amend our lives, instead of fleeing to Christ as the refuge of lost sinners6. In seasons also of temptation, or deserti…
374 wordsSECTION 39Spiritual Desertion.
[We cannot but see how prone we are, as a nation, to rest on human alliances, and human efforts. Would to God we could correct this fatal error, and trust more entirely in the great disposer of all events ! As individuals at least, we may, and must, correct it. If we would have the blessing of God, and not his cur…
361 wordsSECTION 4042 Hosea, V. 15. [1152.
it necessary for us ; for this will often avail to humble the soul, when every thing else has been tried in vain. Hence it is generally God's last resource : he uses various other methods first, to make his people holy, and to keep them vigilant : but when they are still remiss and negligent, he departs from them,…
437 wordsSECTION 411152.] Spiritual Desertion. 43
return unto my place :" this is a good description of that which we call spiritual desertion. God, properly speaking, is in every place ; " he filleth all in all :" but yet, as to the mani- festation of his presence, he is more particularly in heaven : " He is the High and Lofty One who inhabiteth eternity, whose …
530 wordsSECTION 4244 Hosea, V. 15. [1152.
as we are told in ver. 3, and 4, standing in the court : in ver. 19, he went yet farther ; "And the cherubims lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth, in my sight; and' every one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above." In xi. 23, …
558 wordsSECTION 431152.] Spiritual Desertion. 45
the soul ; and by these marks we may judge of his increasing nearness or removal.] We see, then, what is meant by spiritual deser- tion— Let us now consider, II. The end and intent of it — [God intends our good in all his dispensations, unless in- deed we have provoked him utterly to abandon us ; and then he ma…
450 wordsSECTION 4446 Hosea, V. 15. [1152.
ever " resist the proud, and give grace only to the humble." He is determined " to abase those who walk in pride ;" and therefore he never vouchsafes the former tokens of his love, till he has brought the soul to an open and ingenuous con- fession. We have a remarkable instance of this in David : he had grievously…
510 wordsSECTION 451152.] Spiritual Desertion. 47
express testimony of God himself: " Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart ; and I will be found of youc."] We come now to shew, III. The effect it will produce — [Would to God that the effect were the same on all ! but, alas! there are many who are hardened by it more and …
486 wordsSECTION 4648 Hosea, V. 15. [1152.
but he gave me no answer." She then went about the city, and inquired of all the watchmen respecting him : and failing of success here, she says, in verse 8, " I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my Beloved, tell ye him that I am sick of love." This is a striking comment on the last words of my text…
500 wordsSECTION 47The Characteristic Marks Of True Penitence.
2. To the professors of religion — [How apt are you to draw back from God, instead of pressing forward as you ought to do ! How do you compel him to hide his face, when he would gladly be comforting you with his presence ! Ah, Brethren, know where the fault is : " He delighteth in the prosperity of his people :" i…
357 wordsSECTION 4850 Hosea, Vi. 1. [1153.
I. The characteristic marks of true penitence — It will always be attended with, 1 . A sense of our departure from God — [Unregenerate men live " without God in the world ;" and yet the thought of their being at a distance from God never enters into their minds. But as soon as the grace of repentance is given to …
429 wordsSECTION 491 153.1 Characteristic Marks Of Penitence. 51
To promote an increase of such repentance amongst us, we shall proceed to state, II. The grounds on which a penitent may take en- couragement to return to God — Whatever grounds of despondency we may feel within ourselves, we may take encouragement; 1. From a general view of God's readiness to heal us — [God ha…
448 wordsSECTION 5052 Hose A, Vi. 1. [1153.
Application — 1. To those who have deserted God — [Let us only reflect on the months and years that we have past without any affectionate remembrance of God, or any earnest application to Christ as our Mediator and Advocate ; and we shall not need many words to convince us, that we are included in this number. Bu…
432 wordsSECTION 51The Effects Of Diligence In Religion.
Hos. vi. 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 sys- tems, are apt to set divine truths at variance with each other, and to …
334 wordsSECTION 5254 Hosea, Vi. 3. [1154.
The great object of our attention should be, to gain the knowledge of Christ — [Many see no occasion at all for diligence in the pursuit of heavenly things. Others, who confess the need of constant exertion on our part, yet propose to themselves a wrong end in their labours; having no higher view than to establish…
480 wordsSECTION 531154.1 Effects Of Diligence In Religion. 55
proportion to their willingness to learn of God, and to practise what they already knowe. God, who alone can instruct us in this knowledge, will " reveal even to babes and sucklings the things that are hid from the wise and prudent." " The meek he will guide in judgment, the meek he will teach his way." " If only …
412 wordsSECTION 5456 Hosea, Vi. 3. [1154.
dispelled ; and " the Sun of righteousness shall arise upon us with healing in his wings." Nevertheless we must not expect that we should discern every thing at once : our progress will be gradual. The sun does not arise in an instant : there is first a little glimmering dawn; then the gilded clouds begin to wear …
473 wordsSECTION 551154.3 Effects Of Diligence In Religion. 57
showers that water the earth'." After long drought, the clouds may, almost without a metaphor, be said to " drop fatness ;" and the knowledge of Christ, long and eagerly desired, shall make " the desert to blossom as the rose ;" yea, " it shall make the wilderness like Eden, and the desert as the garden of the Lor…
431 wordsSECTION 56Mclv.
worldly cares and pleasures. Instead of resisting their adver- sary, they yield to him; and give way to desponding thoughts, when they should renew their exertions with more abundant diligence. If they followed on as they ought, not only would their success be certain and gradual, but it would be accom- panied wit…
656 wordsSECTION 5760 Hosea, Vi. 4. [1155.
How many have there been in every age who have thus " made shipwreck of their faith !" And how many amongst ourselves, perhaps, have declined from the ways of God, and given reason to fear that " their last end will be worse than their beginning !" These are yet more strictly conformed to the images in the text, …
565 wordsSECTION 58115G.] Mercy Before Sacrifice. 61
[How many have reason to look back with shame, and to say, " O that it were with me as in months pastk ! " Once you felt some concern about your soul ; but now you are regardless of your eternal interests : once you had some pros- pect of heaven ; but now you have none at all. Consider what a melancholy state this…
312 wordsSECTION 5962 Hosea, Vi. 6. [1156.
Hos. vi. 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 services, while they are utterly averse to those duties w…
454 wordsSECTION 601156.] Mercy Before Sacrifice. G3
abundantly manifested his regard for the ordinances of his own institution.] But the acceptableness of such services depends on the manner in which they are performed — [God looks rather to the disposition of the worshipper than the matter of his offering ; and, if a contrite spirit be wanting, he values nothing …
390 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical edition (1832-33); scan/OCR from Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.