Seeds of Sermons from the Minor Prophets. If the Bible as a whole is inspired, it is of vast importance that all its Divine ideas should be brought to bear upon the living world of men. Though the pulpit is the organ Divinely intended for this work, it has been doing it hitherto in a miserably partial and restricted method. It selects isolated passages, and leaves whole chapters and books for the most part untouched. Its conduct to the Minor Prophets may be taken as a case in point. How seldom are they resorted to for texts; and yet they abound with splendid passages throbbing with Divine ideas. It is our purpose to go through this section of the Holy Word; selecting, however, only such verses in each chapter and book as seem the most suggestive of truths of the most vital interest and universal application. We begin with HOSEA. The remembrance of some facts connected with this man will greatly help us in our endeavours to reach the meaning and feel the power of certain of his utterances. He was a native of Israel, and lived in Samaria about 700 or 800 years B.C. His prophecy seems to have embraced a period of about 60 years, from Jeroboam's death to Hezekiah's accession to the throne. He was contemporary with Isaiah, and preceded Joel, Jonah, and Amos. His prophecies are directed almost exclusively to the ten tribes, who had sunk into the deepest idolatry. His style, as a writer, is very peculiar. "It is," says De Witte, "abrupt, unrounded, and ebullient, his rhythm hard, leaping, and violent." Like a bee, he has been said to fly from one flower to another, to suck the honey from all the blossoms. No. LVII. Subject: REVERSES OF FORTUNE "Though he be fruitful among his brethren, an east wind shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels."-HOSEA xiii. 15. "For he will bear fruit among brethren. East wind will come, -a wind of Jehovah, rising up from the desert; and his fountain will dry up, and his spring become dried. He plunders the treasuries of all splendid vessels."-Delitzsch. "This and the following verse set forth the devastation and destruction of the kingdom of the ten tribes, which was to precede the deliverance promised in that vessels." The enemy would invade the country, impoverish husbandry, check merchandise. (2) Its populousness would give way to paucity. The enemy would reduce its numbers and almost depopulate it. "His fountain shall be dried up." How great the reverse! and yet such reverses in human history are frequent. Saul, Herod, Nebuchadnezzar, Napoleon, are a few amongst millions of examples. Constantly do we see men hurled from the sunny mountains of opulence into the gloomy valley of poverty. Such reverses should teach us:First: To hold all worldly good with a very light hand. Secondly: To settle our interests on the good that is permanent. "Labour not for the meat that perisheth." If a II. Reverses in human fortune ARE GENERALLY BROUGHT ABOUT BY SECONDARY INSTRUMENTALITY. "An east wind shall come, shall come from the wilderness." Nations, communities, and individuals may always trace their calamities to certain natural causes. kingdom decays, if a mercantile transaction breaks down, if a fortune is lost, man can generally trace the dispensation to some east wind". -some secondary agent. This should teach us, (1) To study natural laws. (2) To be diligent in checking all elements inimical to human progress. III. Reverses in human fortune ARE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF GOD. The change in the fortunes of Ephraim, although brought about by a variety of secondary agencies, was nevertheless under the superintendence of the Almighty. Though a country may be ruined by civil wars, or foreign invasions, or pestilential atmospheres, or unfruitful harvests bringing on famine, still Divine Intelligence foresees all, and Divine power overrules all. Both true philosophy and religion teach us to trace all the events of life to Him. Some come directly from Him; all are directed by Him. Friendship and bereavement, prosperity and adversity, sickness and health, sorrow and joy-He is in all. "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away." Learn-(1) To acquiesce in His dispensations; (2) To look to Him for all that is good. No. LVIII. Subject: REPENTANCE OR RE FORMATION. "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon."-HOSEA XIV. 1-7. "After the prophet has set before the sinful nation in various ways its own guilt, and the punishment that awaits it, viz., the destruction of the kingdom, he concludes his addresses with a call to thorough conversion to the Lord, and the promise that the Lord will bestow His grace once more upon those who turn to Him, and will bless them abundantly."Delitzsch. The subject of these words is, Repentance; or, the Greatest Reformation. Reformation is a subject on which men are never tired of talking: it is the grand text of the demagogue, as well as the leading purpose of the philanthropist. There are various kinds of reformation. There is the doctrinal reformation, — reformation in creed: the renunciation of one set of opinions, and the adoption of another. There is the institutional reformation,— reformation in political, in ecclesiastical, and social laws. There is the reformation in external character, involving the renunciation of old habits and the formation of new ones. But all such reformations are of little if any worth, apart from the moral reformation-a reformation in the leading spirit and controlling dispositions of the soul-a reformation involving a thorough change of heart. This is the only reformation worth working for. In these verses we have several things worth notice in relation to it. I. ITS NATURE AND METHOD INDICATED. First: Its Nature. "O Israel, return unto the Lord your God." The description conained in the first and third verses of this reformation im plies three things: (1) That the soul is away from God. Truly, the moral heart of humanity is far gone from the Great Father. The souls of men are in the "far country of sin. "Fallen by thine iniquity." It has gone down from the high hills of spiritual purity and Divine communion. (2) The renunciation of all depend"Asshur ence upon creatures. shall not save us: we will not ride upon horses." This means, we will not trust to Asshurthat is, Assyria-for help. Nor will we ride upon horses, court friendship with Egypt from whence they are fetched. When danger comes, we will trust in God, and Him only. Moral reformation involves all this. All dependence on anything short of God for salvation is given up-science, philosophy, ritualism, priesthoods, shall not save us. (3) Utter abandonment of all idols. "Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods. For in Thee the fatherless findeth mercy." Secondly: Its method. "Take with you words and turn to the Lord." Why take words to God? (1) Not because words can inform Him of anything of which He is ignorant. With words we enlighten men; but Omniscience knows all connected with us, all that we are, have been, and shall be, through all the ages of the future. (2) Not because words can induce him to be more kind to us than He is. With words we persuade men to grant us our requests. But our words can never dispose Him to do what He has not been always ready to accomplish Words can never Be Own make Him more kind and merciful than He has ever been. Why then use words? cause words relieve our own spirits; words aid our devotions. This, then, is the method, go to God at once, and pour out your souls before Him. Before Him resolve, "Then will we offer the calves of our lips." And before Him pray. Pray for two things: (a) His forgiveness. "Take away all sin." (b) His acceptance: "Receive us graciously.' II. ITS CAUSE AND BLESSED 66 storms of centuries could not remove them. (c) Its growth is connected with expansiveness. His branches shall spread." Widely grew the branches of those old cedars, offering to the traveller a cooling shade from the sun and a shelter from the tempest. How a divinely formed soul expands. It outgrows the boundaries of sects and the limits of creeds. Its sympathies become world-wide. (d) Its growth is connected with fragrance. "His beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." Sweet was the aroma that was swept by the wind over those old hills. How delectable the fragrance of a holy life! (e) Its growth is connected with social usefulness. It shall offer protection to men. "They that dwell under His shadow shall return." Where can we flee in distress but to the sympathy and love of the Good? Not only protection, but beneficent progress: They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” * 66 GOD.-I have answered and will regard him. EPHRAIM.-I am like a green cypress. GOD.- From Me is thy fruit found. But I am disposed to regard, with Delitzsch and others, that God, and not Ephraim, is representing Himself as the " green fir tree." I observe, therefore, I. That God FORESEES THE CHANGE in His reformed people. "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? First Mark the description of the change. Before the period of their conversion comes, He hears them say, "What have I to do any more with idols ?" What have I to do with them? (1) They are beneath me. I am ashamed of them. "What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?" (2) They are a curse to me. Idols degrade, deceive, damn. Omniscience foresees all the workings of the penitent soul. Secondly: Mark God's recognition of the change. "I have heard him and observed him." He is cognizant of all the reflections, remorses, resolutions, of the repentant soul. II. That God PROVIDES BLESSINGS FOR His reformed people. First: Protection. "I am like a green fir tree." Those trees in Eastern countries were exceedingly large and thick, affording shelter from sun and storms and showers. Secondly: Support. "From Me is thy fruit found.' God is to His people the source of all relief and good, both for this life and the life to come. CONCLUSION: Sinner, repent and be converted. Say, "What have I to do any more with idols ? Renounce the old. The Almighty Father is ready to receive and bless you. No. LX. Subject: GOD'S WAYS. "Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein."--HOSEA xiv. 9. God has His ways, His methods of action. He proceeds on certain principles in all His operations both in the realm of matter and of mind. The Infinite has a way of doing things. I. His ways are to BE STUDIED. "Who is wise-and he shall understand these things? Prudent and he shall knowthem?" It is one thing to know the works of a man, and another thing to know his ways, his methods of action. He only knows a man who understands his way of doing things. God's ways are the highest subjects of study. It is said that He made known His " way unto Moses, His "works" unto the Children of Israel. The millions know something of His works, only the "wise," the "prudent," the initiated, like Moses understand His ways. Brother! Come away from the study of details, ascend into the realm of principles. Men who understand God's ways become prophets. They can foretell the future. II. His ways are RIGHTEOUS. The ways of the Lord are right." |