Skeletons of Sermons Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. These words are the expressions of that penitence which was excited in the Israelites by God's departure from them, and by His grace that accompanied the affliction. I. THE CHARACTERISTIC MARKS OF TRUE PENITENCE. It will always be attended by — 1. A sense of our departure from God. With unregenerate men the thought of being at a distance from God never distresses. As soon as the grace of repentance is given, men see that they are as sheep gone astray. 2. An acknowledgment of affliction as a just chastisement for sin. The impenitent heart murmurs and rebels under the Divine chastisements: the penitent "hears the rod, and Him that appointed it." 3. A determination to return to God. When a man is once thoroughly awakened to a sense of his lost condition, he can no longer be contented with a formal round of duties. To hear of Christ, to seek Him, are from henceforth his chief desire, his supreme delight. 4. A desire that others should return to Him also. This is insisted on as characteristic of the great work that shall be accomplished in the latter day (Isaiah 2:3). The penitent feels it incumbent on him to labour for the salvation of others. II. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH A PENITENT MAY TAKE ENCOURAGEMENT TO RETURN TO GOD. 1. From a general view of God's readiness to heal us. 2. From that particular discovery of it which we have in the wounds He has inflicted on us.Apply — 1. To those who have deserted God. 2. To those who are deserted by God. (Skeletons of Sermons.) Parallel Verses KJV: Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. |
    |