The Pulpit Commentary — Hosea — Section 351

thorn with cords of n. man, with bands or love." Let na consider tho evidence and the lnfluonco or the Divino attractiveneee. I. !Te EVIDENCE. 1. .As ezMbited in the mission of a!vrut. Instead of coming in the clouds of heo.ven to compel the homage of the world, he came in the likeness of men, o.nd won the love of thoeo round him in Bethlehem and Nazareth as a human child. " He grew . . . in favour with God and man." During hie ministry the BBme method waa pursued; he drew disciples around him "with the cords of a man even with bands of love." Hie choeen disciples were not those whose enthusia,m:: wa11 aroused by worke of superhuman character; on the contrary, such ae theee had to be repressed, as they were when they would take Jeeus by force to m.'\ke him a Kina. John an~ Peter and others who were specially his own were won by his love, we~e drawn with the cords of a. man. It was those who were thus drawn who wero ready for the higher blessing. While a wicked and adulterous generation in vain sought after a sign, despised sinners and humble children were enriched beyond a.II expectation. Still Christ seeks to win such confidence, and to win it by the aame means. He speaks not from the throne of glory, but from the cro88 of Calvary. Divine love is pleading with us through the weakness of mortality. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will d,ra,w all men unto me." 2. .As exhibited in the e:i;perienu of C!hristians. If we would know the laws of mental life we do not seek them in the phenomena of phyRical life, and it would be equally absurd to expect the physiologist from his study of brain-movements, or the metaphysicia.n from his acquaintance with the la.we of intellect, to unveil to us the secrets of spiritual experience. The subtle movement~ of religious life ca.n only be known by religious men. They, without one discordant voice, declare that they have been and are sensible of Divine drawings. Listen to such utterances as these : " By the grace of God I a.m what I am ; " " We love him, because he first loved us;" " We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." What a.re these but confirmations of the text, and of our Lord's declaration, "No ma.n can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him"? Here is a. quotation from Augustine, which shows how he had been drawn to the Saviour he had so long ignored; "How sweet did it at once become to me to want the eweetnesses of those toys I and what I feared to be parted from was now a joy to part with. For thou didst cast them forth, and for then, enteredet in thyself sweeter than all pleasures, though not to flesh and blood; brighter than all light, but more hidden than a.II depths; higher than all honour, but not to tlw high in their own conceits." Every saint on earth and in heaven can say- " He drew me, and I followed on, G1'd to confess the voice Divine." II. 1TB PURPOSE. Why does God thus lovingly affect the souls of men? 1. Be would d,ra,w us to his feet for pardoo. The prodigal was not forced home. In his abject misery thoughts came to him of his father's love, and with them the idea. of returning stole in. So the thought of God's great goodness should incite the worst sinner to return to the Lord, who will abundantly pardon. " Knowest thou not that the goodness of the Lord lea.deth thee to repentance?" 2. He WO'Uld draw us to his a,rms for protection. To feel that God is about us is at once our strength am! defence, our comfort and joy. Refer to Joseph in Potipha.r's house, to Jacob at Bethel, and to Moses before the burning bush, etc., for illustrations of this. Still in this world, which Is sobbing with sorrow, dark with foreboding, saddened by sin, the ark of safety may be found, and the door is open. 3. He would draw us to his home ffYT' reat. If life were to be lived out here, it would not be worth living. But as strangers and pilgrims we are passing through the world, sometimes driven onward by grief, some- times allured onward by joy, but over journeying toward11 "the rest that remains for the people of God." Beside us, in life, in death, iu eternity, is One who, with love greater than that of any father to his child, still declares," I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love."-A. R. Ver. 8.-God's yearning over rebels. Our text tells the old story of man's rebellion and God's love. 'l'he subject has its human o.nd its Divine aspect, which we will consider in turn.  TilE BOOK OF HOSEA. [en, xr. 1-12.