THE GOODNESS OF GOD, AND ITS EFFECTS.

HOSEA iii. 5. (Part of the verse.)

The children of Israel shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

The doctrine of fear, christians, is of so much importance that it can never be too fully discussed by us, nor too well understood by you. And we are going this afternoon (if it please God to bless our attempts) we are going to shew you that as the greatness of God produces fear, a fear productive of all christian obedience, so the goodness of God in the highest display of it produces the same emotion, the same obedience; and for this purpose we have chosen the words, They shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

Perhaps it may be necessary before we enter upon the subject, to give you a general account of the context; for the literal interpretation of scripture is a foundation which should not be destroyed without it what can the righteous do? The general design of the prophet, adapting himself to the condition of his countrymen, was to call their attention principally to two things; first, to their miserable condition, made up on their

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part of sin, on God's part of judgments, which fell upon them in consequence of their transgressions; and who thus chastised them as a nation. That was one great object: it is presented all through the prophecy. The other was their deliverance from this calamitous state by the promised Messiah. And this part also divides into two particulars. The one is the character of the person called Messiah. And the other, the rich and noble effects that this dispensation should have upon them as a nation at the time of his appearance, and on all succeeding ages; that it should produce the noblest acts that the human soul could perform; and should continue to do so to the end of time. This is a general view of the prophecy. But in order to strike these truths the deeper upon the hearts of those that heard them, (for without it to what purpose do men waste their time and strength upon these subjects) the prophets were engaged, according to the custom of their country, to express them by certain visible signs; and that I suppose is a key to the character which belongs to this prophet, Hosea; and particularly to this chapter. For mark the 2d verse of the first chapter: The Lord said to Hosea, go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms, and children of whoredoms; for the land hath committed great whoredoms, departing from the Lord. And Chap. iii, 1. Then said the Lord unto me, go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adultress, according to the love of

the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. Now a plausible objection here arises against the character of the prophet; and above all against his pretence to inspiration, that he should receive such a direction from God. But our answer is -That the prophet, agreeable to the custom of his country, chose to preach by visible signs. Sometimes the prophets preached by inanimate signs. I took (says one) a girdle, and I girded about me, and said, thus shalt thou be girded by the Lord. -I took (says another) a yoke and put upon my neck, and said, God will bring you into slavery. Now, here Hosea is said to take persons, not like Isaiah, who took his own child and said, by this child I can say so and so, such and such calamities shall befal you; but he goes and hires a prostitute to accompany him to the house of speaking; and as it is said,-I bought her to me;

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gave her so much for her attendance on me, and she was not to play the harlot; she was already a wicked person, but she served to answer this purpose. Now when it is said that the prostitute taken by the prophet for this purpose, bare a son; that his name was called Jezreel, the meaning is only-That the woman was directed to take his child and say his name is so and so. Now I call this child Lo-ruhamah. (Ye shall not obtain mercy.) This being the truth, and this the manner of impressing it, we come to the text, which was a part of the prophet's address to his countrymen; and it sums up thus: the children

of Israel looked to other gods as this prostitute to other women: the children of Israel, like this bad woman, shall be turned out and suffer the true desert of their deeds, and they shall find it as hard to believe that God would come to them, as this woman that a prophet should take her up and bring her to the temple; but nevertheless this is not (says the prophet) improper for God to do. They shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without Teraphim. And afterwards the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

Now, here are two things that I wish to turn. your attention to. The first is that the accomplishment of this promise, that is, the exhibition of Christ to the world in the latter days of the jewish state, is meant by the goodness of God. And Secondly: That this was so sudden as to excite just and well grounded fears.

First, The accomplishment of this promise; that is, the exhibition of Christ to the world in the latter days of the jewish state is meant by the goodness of God.

You often meet in the prophecies with the expression, latter days. Now I presume we have reason to think, if we examine the places, that

the expression in general stands for the last years,

of the Jews continuing to subsist as a kingdom, from about the time that Herod the Great reigned, to the destruction of Jerusalem. They were truly and properly the last days of that people; they have never figured as a nation since. Now these latter days are marked in the prophecies by certain events that should distinguish them. ISAI. ii. 2. It shall come to pass in the last days, (just when your kingdom is coming to an end) that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. As if the prophet had said, then you will know when your state is coming to an end, when God shall so order your religion that it shall spread itself amongst your neighbouring nations; it shall glide away from you as water from off a mountain. MICAH IV. 1. In the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it. The same prophecy you see is repeated by two prophets. In process of time Christ came, called in the verses of which the text is a part, David their king. He was a descendant of David, and the principal person of that family. When he came, what did he?--Fulfil this prophecy; accomplish this