The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 345

moral freedom. The force which draws hie mind is reason-" cords of a. man ; " a.nd the power which influences hiA heart is tenderneBII-" bands of love." God uses these forces: 1. In liis common providence. His love for hie creatures is a.naJoc,ous to parental nffection : it is ns human, and more tender than that of a mother for her child. Hie mercy is long-suffering and indestructible. It leads him "daily to lond us with benefits." And even the cords of affliction with which he sometimes binds us are "b1mds of love" cast around us to <lra.w us to himself. 2. In the plan of redemption. "The Word was made flesh " in or<ler to draw men by cords of human sympathy. What blessing the Incarnation has brought to the reason of man! In lookin~ upon the Lord J eHus Christ we see truth in the concrete. He is himself "the Truth," "the Word of Life." "Though truths in manhood darkly join Deep-seated in our mystic frame, We yield all blessing to the Name Of him that made them current coin; "For Wisdom dealt with mortal powers, Where truth in closest words shall fail, When truth embodied in a tale Sh111l enter in at lowly doors. • And so the Word had breath, and wrought With human hands the creed of creeds In loveliness of perfect deeds, More strong than all poetic thought." (Tennyson.) What blessing, also, the Incarnation has brought to the heart of man ! The Lord Jesus is bone of otu· bone, and flesh of our flesh. He was the "Son of Mary," and he "shed the human tear." So he is qualified, as our merciful and sympathizing High Priest, to enter into all our feelings, and thereby to bind us to himself and to God. 3. In the invitations of the gospel. The Lo1_:d, in these, appeals to us as rational and moral beings. The invitation, e.g., "Come now, and let us re.'ISon together" (Isa. i. 18), suggests that the most rational of all the actions of the human mind is to accept of Christ as the Saviour; and that a life of faith in him is the ouly reasonable and manly and truly successful life. The gospel voices, moreover, are "bands of love." The prodigal son, so soon as be returned to reason, was led by the remembrance of bis father's love to return home (Luke xv. 17, 18). And, similarly, the love of God is the loadstar which leads poor sinners to himself. 4. In the appointed means of grace. Take: (1) The Word of God. The Bible is a Divine Book, but it is also intensely human. 'l'he sacred writers display everywhere a profound knowledge of human nature. The ;,pirit of t.be Book is humane and tender; it dra.ws "with bands of love." In the uni- versities of Scotland, the Professor of Latin is usually called "Professor of Humanity," from the supposed beneficial effects of the study of Roman literature; but surely the supreme humanizing iufluence in letters is the Word of God. (2) The sacra- ments. As "signs," baptism and the Lord's Supper are "cord~ of a man." They appeal to the physical senses as well as to mind and heart. They are like pictures or illustrative diagrams of the great truths of redemption. The sacraments are also " seals; " and, as such, " bands of love." Each of them is, as it were, a keepsake, or love-token, given by the Redeemer to bis Church. Once more, take (3) Prayer. Prayer is the converse with God of his human children. It bas for its key-note the child's cry," Our Father." It is the voice of childlike trnst in the humanity, the tenderness, the father-pity of our Maker and Redeemer. 5. .As the motive-powers to holiness of life. Our text expresses the master consideration which impels the believer to a career of Christian consecration. The Apostle P,rnl urges the same in Rom. xii. 1: "Your reasonable service," i.e. "cords of a man ; " "by the mercies of God," i.e. "ban<ls of love." 'l'he meaning is that in a life of devotion to God all the rational faculties find their chief end, and that to such a life" the love of Christ constraineth us." II. A LE~SON OF CONDUCT FOR OURSELVES. 'l'he words before us reveal the secret of influence. They point ont. the magnet with which we are to attract our fellow-rneu in all the relations of lif,•. l1rnl Almi:.",hty draws w;th the loadstoue of love; and in thi~ we a.re to bo "irnitators of God, as d1iar chilclreu" (Eph. v. 1). He1·e ~ a lesson to: l.  3-!6 'l'HE BOOK OF HOSEA. [OH. XI, 1-12.