represent Mm by consecrated life. When Moses came from tho presence of God his face shono with heavenly ligM. When the Sanhedrim sa.w the coura.ae a.nd wisdom or Peter and John, they saw that they had been wHh Jesus. So he ~ho is habitually with God will have about him something of heaven's atmosphere ancl of Christ's S1Jirit. CoNCLUBION. "No man knoweth the Father but the Son, a.nd he to whom the Son shall reveal him."-A. R. Vore. 3, 5 (parts).-Sin's mocklff'y of the sinner. "Israel hath cast off the thin" that is good . . . . Thy ea.If, 0 Samaria, bath cast thee off." The power of the huma; will to choose good or evil. 'fhis evidenced by the representation Hosea gives of a. people resolved on iniquity, whom God was longing to eave. Refer to the teaching of our Lord upon this subject; e.g. "Ye will not come to me tha.t ye might have life;" or "How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather he; brood under her wings, but ye would not!" Appeal to experience for proof of our power to receive or reject good. Our text describes a. fa.Jla.cious, sinful, and fatal choice. The sin for which sacrifice was made ultimately sacrificed the sinner. Look at tha two sides of this moral picture. I. THE CASTING OFF OF THE GOOD. "Israel hath cast off the thing tha.t is good." Illustrate this by a delineation of the depraved condition of Israel at this period. Show that what they cast off is still being cast off by multitudes in modem life; e.g.: 1. Faith in the nearness of God. It was the loss of this which led Israel to form fatal alliances with the heathen. Jn our day materialism and Positivism are enervating, and sometimes destroying faith, The symbol of the spiritual is becoming the sub- stitute for it. This may be traced both in the teachings of a school of philosophy, an,l in the sensuousness of ritualistic worship. Many have cast off the old faith-" t,he thing that is good "-instead of believing where they cannot prove. 2. Fidelity in witnessing for God. It had been the glory of Israel to proclaim, both by its worship and in its history, the unity, the invisibility, and the holiness of God. By turning tJ the worship of visible idols, diverse in their attributes, yet all hideous in their impurity, they had deliberately repudiated this Divine commission. Still it is man's peculiar dignity to appear as the witnesser and the worshipper of God, in whose image he w,u created, and over whose works he rules. Pre-eminently he may be the Divine witne,;~ by the moral character and the spiritual life inwrought in him by the Divine Spirit., who conforms us to the image of God's Son. Falling short of this, man fails (as Israel failed) to fulfil his destiny. Hence, in proportion as a man refuses the grace of God, he casts off the thing that is good. 3. Obedience to the Law of God. Show from pagan history, and from the condition of modem heathen, as well as from the growing degra- dation of those to whom Hosea spoke, that idolatry brings with it moral deterioration. The man who ignores the first table of the Law will of necessity ignore the seconJ. also. Religious faith and moral rightness stand or fall together. When Israel turned from Jehovah to Baal and Astarte, the nation gradually but surely became false, self-seeking, ambitious in its political alliances, and hideously corrupt in its inward social condition. Israel had cast off the thing that was good. 4. Loyalty to sacred resolves, The people often appeared about to repent, but their goodness was transient as the morning cloud. How frequently now right impressions and even holy vows are cast off I How jealously all should guard themselves against the subtle influence of a. busy life, or of an alluring plea.sure, or of an ill-chosen companionship! There am many whose hearts a.re hard, and whose lives are godless, respecting whom, in memory of their early promise, it may be truly and sadly said, "They have cast off the thing that is good." II. THE CASTING OFF OF THE SINNER. "Thy calf, 0 Samaria., hath cast thee off." History shows that Israel was ruined by trusting to Egypt and to its own martial prowess, instead of confiding in God and simply doing righteousness. Jeremiah's words wero fulfilled, " Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and ruaketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord." Casting off good, Israel was cast 0ff by evil. See how often this principle is exemplified in the broa,ler sphere of human life. 'fhat which men put in the place of God sooner or later fails them. 1. Plc,i- sures fail to give satisfaction. When the soul tries to quench its thirst with the,c', the words of Isaiah are fulfilled," It shall even be as when a hungry man drc,,n1c1I,, HOSEA. ~ 258 THE BOOK OF HOSEA. [orr. vm. 1-14.
nnd. behold, he 81\tcth; but he &w&keth, and his soul is empty." The awe.kenin" <'nmrs nltimately to every man, and it iB well when it does 'not come too late, 2~ I11 fellcct fails UJ find, spirirual trutk. Sliiritual things are spiritually di scorned, l\nd the unrest nf many arise,-, from the fllOt tb&t they have cast oft' the yoke of him who alone was able to say," I am the . , . Truth." 3. Self-righteousness fails to bring salvatwn. See our Ll't'd's words respecting the Plrn.risees. The house built on the sand stands side by siM wit.h the house founded upon I.he rock; but the testing-time comes to both. 4. Tw world fails UJ afford a kom.,. Whether we will or not the world must fail us at last. If we make it our servant, we shall rule like kings• fr we make it our god, in our hour of helplessness it will cast us off. ' CoNcLUSION. "There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. "-A. R.