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"Ho, every one that That is my message. So my

Come; do come.

Jesus, and find everlasting life.
thirsteth, come ye to the waters."
There is your welcome.
errand will speed. So your
God's name will be glorified.

souls will be blest. So Amen.

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"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to King Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound."-Hosea v. 13.

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HERE is a tendency in the heart of man to want something to look at rather than something to trust to. The children of Israel had God for their King, and a glorious King he Where else was there found such impartial justice, such tender compassion for the poor, or such perfect righteousness in every statute that was ordained, and every sentence that was enforced? But they said, "Nay, let us have a king whom we can see-a king whose and magnificence shall dazzle our senses, though he take our sons to be his bondslaves, and our daughters to be his confectionaries. Let us have a king, that we may see the gaudy glitter of his crown with our eyes, and hear the sovereign mandate of his throne with our ears." God granted them that request. Their sole allegiance was due to that almighty King whose superlative glory admitted of no natural similitude. The Lord Jehovah was the God of Israel-a God ever ready to forgive their sins, to hear their prayers, and seek their welfare. But the children of Israel said, "Not so; let us make a king to judge us, like all the nations: and let us set

up gods, after the fashion of the Gentiles, that our hands can handle, and that our eyes can behold. Let us have blocks of wood and stone. Let us have the carved images of the heathen." Neither would they rest till they had set up for themselves in every high place gods that were no gods. For this the Lord chastised them. He gave up their lands to famine, and their habitations to the spoiler. He brought enemies from far countries to lay them waste, so that the state became sick, and the whole nation impoverished. Then the people of Ephraim opened their eyes and looked to their condition. But when Judah saw himself to be wounded what course did he pursue? There was God ready to help him when he returned to his allegiance. There was Jehovah ready to heal all his distresses, to give him back all that had been laid waste, and to restore to him everything that the spoiler had taken. But no! the arm of Jehovah was not enough for Judah; Judah must rely upon a force that could look imposing with its array. "Oh!" said the people, "let us send to the king of Assyria, and let him furnish us with tens of thousands of soldiers, and aid us with his mighty men, so we shall be safe. Thus will our state recover itself." But if they had trusted in God, my brethren, how secure they would have been! Mark what God did for them in the days of Hezekiah. upon them in great numbers. the Lord. And it came to pass that night God sent forth the blast of his nostrils, and they were utterly destroyed. When the men of Judah arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses! As often as they trusted in God they found immediate succour,

Their enemies came Hezekiah prayed before

and their enemies were put to confusion. But not so was their heart stayed in its confidence. No; the unseen arm they cannot rely upon. They must have men and men's devices. They must have something they can see. Unless they have the spear, and the sword, and the shield of the Assyrian state they can feel no sense of security. "They went to the Assyrian king, they sent to King Jareb, yet could he not heal them, nor cure them of their wound." How foolish they were to hope he would, for as soon as they sent their ambassadors to the king of Assyria, he flattered himself while he spoke to them, "Oh, you want help, do you? I will send you some soldiers to help you." Remember their houses had been stripped of all the gold and silver they contained to give a present to the king of Assyria. "I will send my soldiers to help you," said he to them; and then he whispered to himself, "After they have helped you, they shall help themselves." And so they did. When they had come, and for a little while had fought for the people of Israel, and set them free, then they turned round upon them, and carried them captive, and spoiled them of all they had. This comes of trusting in man. "Cursed is he that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm; but blessed is he who trusteth in the Lord, and whose God the Lord is."

Looking at this fallacy of a nation as illustrative of a common tendency of mankind, and using my text as the picture of a sinner in a certain peculiar state of mental anxiety, I shall observe, first, the sinner's partial discovery of his lost estate; secondly, the wrong means which he takes to be cured of his evil; after which I will endeavour to direct you, as God shall enable me, to the

right means of finding healing and deliverance through the atonement and obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have in our text somewhat of a picture of the sinner when he has partially discovered his lost estate. Mark, it is but a partial discovery. Ephraim felt his sickness, but he did not know the radical disease that lurked within. He saw the local ailment, but was ignorant of the organic derangement that played on his vitals. He only perceived the symptoms; he was uneasy, he felt pain; but the discovery did not go deep enough to show him that he was actually dead in trespasses and sins. He saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound. Yes, he saw his wound; it smarted; and therefore his eye was drawn to the spot. But he did not know how deep it was; he did not know that it had pierced to the heart, that it was, in fact, a deathblow; that the whole head was sick, that the whole heart was faint, and that from the crown of the head even to the sole of the foot it was all wounds and bruises, and putrefying festering sores. There was but a partial discovery of his lost estate.

How many men there are who have got just far enough to know there is something the matter with them? They little reck that they are totally ruined, though they do feel that it is not all quite right with them. They are conscious that they are not perfect—not even up to their own low standard of rectitude; hence they begin to be uneasy, albeit they still seem to think they can make themselves better, and that by degrees of reformation and daily prayer they will become superior to what they are. They have not yet learned the

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