The Backslider's Door of Hope
(No. 2569)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, MAY 8, 1898.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 22, 1883.
"And I will give her her vineyards from there, and the Valley ofAchor
for a door of hope; she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth,
and as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt." Hosea 2:15.
A FORTNIGHT ago, you will remember that we considered the very terrible
description which the Prophet gave of the sin of God's ancient people.
[See Sermon #2564, Volume 44, "Strange Ways of Love"] They were even
described coarsely, because only such imagery could set forth their
disgraceful filthiness in departing from Jehovah, the living and true
God, and setting up false gods, the rites of whose worship were
indescribably obscene. I would not dare to mention what these men did
under the guise of religion when they turned aside from Jehovah and set
up Baal, Ashtaroth and other idols that were not gods. You will also
remember how the Lord, in His holy jealousy, dealt with His people. He
sent them affliction after affliction. He took away from them those
mercies which they had prostituted for the purpose of sin. He made them
poor, sick and wretched. They were invaded and enslaved by the
neighboring nations whose deities they had set up in the place of the
Most High. Further, you remember–for we tried to describe it–they
were so desperately set on mischief that they would not be turned from
their wicked ways–they revolted more and more. The more it cost them
to sin, the more extravagant they were in it.
Then it was that the Lord, in great mercy, changed His mode of
operation. He told His servant, Hosea, to say that He would try another
plan of working. The Law had failed, in that it was weak through the
flesh, so He would use the Gospel–He would bring the Omnipotent power
of love into the field! Our text a fortnight ago was, "I will allure
her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart." And I
sought, then, to set forth the strange ways in which God, with wondrous
love, allures His people to Himself–how He draws them away from all
their former confidences and hopes and brings them into a wilderness
alone with Him. And there He must feed them, or they must die– there
He must guide them, or they must hopelessly stray. And there He must be
everything to them, or else they must be destroyed with a great
destruction. When the Lord, in love, brings His people to be alone with
Him, then it is that He makes His promises come home to their
hearts–and His person, His purposes, His ancient love and all the
great preparations of that love as to the eternal future are laid home
to the hearts of God's backsliding children–and they are made, again,
to rejoice therein so that they are comforted. That was our subject, as
you may remember.
Now we follow with this next verse which is intended to show yet more
the goodness of God towards backsliders when they return to Him, or, if
you like, towards sinners when, for the first time, they approach His
feet. On this occasion I intend mainly to speak to those who have lost
a sense of God's love. Perhaps there may have strayed in here some who
were once professors, but they are not professors, now–some who were
once members of a Christian Church, but no Christian Church would
acknowledge them, now. Once they could, perhaps, speak to others in
Christ's name, but they would be afraid to say a word for Jesus now,
for they have gone far astray from Him. The message of infinite mercy
to such people is, "Return, you backsliding children!" Come back, come
home to your God! There is no other place of rest for you in the whole
world–you will be as a bird that wanders from its nest. Sinners may
rest content in their sin, for as yet they know no better, but you are
disqualified even for that! You have so much knowledge still left and
so much of conscience still remains that you are spoiled for this
world, spoiled for the pleasures of sin, spoiled for all confidence
except the one confidence which you used to have in Christ Jesus your
Lord. There is no alternative for you but to return, for you cannot go
elsewhere. Therefore, come home to your first Husband–that is God's
own metaphor–for it was better with you then, than now!
Oh, that the blessed Spirit would now allure you, draw you apart, get
you alone with Christ and speak comfortably to you! While He is doing
that, permit me to tell you something, first, concerning restored
blessings. "I will give her vineyards from there." Then, next,
concerning revived hopes.' 'I will give her the Valley of Achor for a
door of hope." And then, thirdly, concerning renewed songs. ' 'She
shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when
she came up from the land of Egypt."
I. First, then, let me talk to returning backsliders ABOUT RESTORED
BLESSINGS.
You have lost a good deal by losing Christ. In fact, to your own
consciousness, you have lost everything. All that made you joyous and
glad has departed from you like a dream of the night–as a man awakes
and finds himself in darkness–even so have you awakened from the
brightness of that foolish dream of yours and you find yourself undone.
Now come back to God, for in coming back you will have fulfilled to you
the promise of our text–"I will give her vineyards from there."
By this is meant, first, that God will give back to returning penitents
that which He took away. Read the 12th verse–"I will destroy her vines
and her fig trees." Now the Lord says, "I will give her her vineyards
from there." When you come back to Christ, the very things that were
taken away from you shall be restored to you! It is sometimes so even
in temporal things. The rod is put aside when it has answered its
purpose. Many a man has been kept poor, or sick, or grievously
depressed in spirit until the time when he has heard the rod and Him
that did appoint it. And then, when he has turned, again, to his God,
he has once more prospered. I do not say that it is always so, for
there may be other reasons why the affliction should continue, but I do
say that it is often so in the experience of God's people. While they
have gone astray, they have had affliction upon affliction–but when
they have returned to the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, He has
made them to lie down in green pastures, beside the still waters. I am
sure that it is so as to spiritualmat-ters.
If you have backslidden, the House of God ministers no comfort to you
now. When you come to it, it is no longer a home to you. But if you
come back to the Lord, you shall find the same pleasure in the House of
Prayer that you used to find in it. Now, perhaps, the Sabbath has
become a weariness to you, for it does not bring you any holy joy–it
only sounds the knell of your departed blessings. Come back to God and
the Sabbath bell shall have all its silvery music restored and you
shall wake up on the morning of the Lord's-Day and begin singing–
"Come, bless the Lord, whose love assigns So sweet a rest for wearied
minds; Provides an antepast of Heaven, And gives this day the food of
seven." You shall have the House of Prayer made none other than the
House of God to you, and the first day of the week shall become to you
the best of all the seven!
Possibly, also, you continue to read your Bible, but it appears to have
lost all its former interest. You fall upon your knees and try to pray,
but you do not meet with God. You associate with the Lord's people, but
you find no charm in that communion which was once so hallowed–the
very essence seems to have gone from every means of Grace. You go out
in the morning, but there is no manna. The dews of Heaven are withheld,
so no blessing comes to your spirit. Now, if you return to the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth–and His great love restores you to
Himself–then all this shall come back to you! "I will give her her
vineyards from there." Do not wait till all this blessing comes back
and then return to Christ–do not try to put the effect before the
cause! But come now, just as you are, in all your dullness and your
deadness–come back to your first love and trust in Jesus as you did at
the very beginning–for then the Lord will restore to you all the
privileges that made your life so happy and bright.
Notice, next, that not only are these things which are restored to the
backsliding nation those that were taken away, but they are now made to
be more hers than they were before. Read again verse 12–"I will
destroy her vines and her fig trees." Now God says, "I will give her
her vineyards from there." She shall feel a peculiar possession about
what she now has, for she shall see that there is a deed of gift by
which God has again given to her those mercies which she had lost. Oh,
1 do love to feel, when the Sabbath comes, that it is God's Day which
He has hedged about for me! And when I go to the
House of God to worship, I like to think that it is appointed for me
there to draw near to God, to open His Book, and to feel that the Bible
is my Father's letter to me, a gift from God to me–and that the Mercy
Seat was the gift of Infinite Love and Divine Grace, prepared on
purpose that I and others like I might come to it! How precious do even
our common mercies become when we see them given back to us by a
Father's hand! I reckon that there is no man who loves the means of
Grace like the man who at one time felt them to be dry and barren. When
the Lord fills the dry beds of the rivers with the torrents of His
love, then we come and drink abundantly and we rejoice exceedingly.
When, for a while, all outward means have seemed to become a wilderness
to us, oh, how glad we are when, once again, the Lord appears, and puts
life, and power, and efficacy into them, so that our soul rejoices in
them! Poor Backslider, ask the Lord even at this moment to give you
back all that you have lost and to make you feel that He is giving it
to you by a double act of Grace and that, therefore, it is yours–you
have a Covenant right to it and what He gives you is now your very own
so that you will enjoy it to the fullest without any idea that you are
presuming when you do so! Thus you will understand the meaning of God's
gracious promise, "I will give her her vineyards from there."
Further, notice that when the Lord restores a backslider, He does not
withhold even the sweetest ofHis former blessings. The Lord give him
not only that which is necessary–that might be described as
cornfields–but He gives that which tends to luxury, to joy, to
exhilaration–"I will give her, her vineyards." Vineyards are not
necessary to the life of man, but God does not stint Himself in giving
to His people barely bread and water, but He gives them things not
absolutely necessary, that He may further increase their joys. He gives
after a royal manner! The house of God's mercy is not a workhouse,
where they weigh out so many ounces of bread–it is a banqueting house
where the Lord, as King in Zion, makes His guests to rejoice as He
distributes the riches of His Grace! "I will give her, her vineyards."
Oh, listen, you who are now distressed! You shall not only have back
your former peace of mind, but you shall have even joy in the Lord! You
shall not merely be permitted to sit at the Lord's table and eat a
little morsel, and then go your way hungering for more–but He will
satiate your soul with goodness, He will make you to eat of fat things
full of marrow and to drink of wines on the lees well refined!
Never imagine that the Lord will let in a poor backslider to a sort of
second-rate Gospel feast, put him in the back rows and give him
something less than he gives to his Brothers and Sisters. No, the
prodigal's father killed for him the fatted calf which he had not
killed even for the elder brother. And if you will come back to God, my
wandering Friend, He will give to you the chief things which He has
stored up, even the abundance of Infinite Love, till your heart shall
leap within you and your life shall become a Psalm, and your whole
being shall be as a harp upon which the fingers of God shall play to
bring out sweetest music henceforth and forever! Only return and you
shall see what lies before you! Go on in your sin and your way shall
become blacker and blacker–the pitfalls and snares shall multiply
every step you take– and the darkness shall deepen into a tenfold
night! But return unto your rest and the way shall become smoother
beneath your feet, your heart shall grow stronger in the Lord, your
ways shall be established and a new song shall be put into your mouth,
even praise unto your God! Thus runs the promise, "I will give her her
vineyards." She shall have all the mirth and all the joy that a
ransomed spirit ought to know! Oh, what comfort there is in this to any
who have wandered away from God, but who resolve to return to Him!
I want you also to notice, before I leave this first point, that it is
said, "I will give her, her vineyards from there," which means, I
think, that God gives these blessings in the wilderness into which He
allures her He promises to give her her vineyards in the solitude into
which He allures her when He takes her away from all her earthly trusts
to be alone with Himself. And, mark you, the vineyards given, "from
there," will be worth ten thousand of the world's vineyards! I mean, by
this, that a joy which is found in Christ, alone, is true joy, one
single particle of which will outweigh the joy of all the world
besides! The joy that springs from the garden dies when the garden is
dry, but the joy that is given in the wilderness is a root from a dry
ground so it can never lose its moisture. It can never decay, for it is
nourished from above, not from beneath. The joy that I get in the
creature dies with the creature from which it comes, but the joy that
comes from Christ the Creator is like He from whom it comes–it can
never expire! "I will give her her vineyards from there," that is to
say, I will fetch her gains from losses, her crowns from crosses and
her sweet from sweat. I will bring her honey from a lion. I will bring
her life from Christ's death. I will bring her Heaven from all His
woes! "I will give her, her vineyards from there."
I should like everyone here, who is very happy, to be asking, "What is
the secret of my joy? Am I rejoicing in the Lord? Or, is mine like the
mirth of the ungodly that sustains itself on corn, wine, oil and on the
abundance of these perishable things? Have I peace at this moment?
Then, on what is my peace founded? Is it built on something which I can
see, and taste, and handle of the world's goods? If so, it will fail me
at the last! But if I get happiness that springs from Christ, my Lord,
who has become everything to me, then I have a peace that I may grasp
and hold fast in the article of death as well as in the trials of life!
"I will give her, her vineyards from there." Come, poor Backslider,
whatever your sad case– the Lord can give you joy in Himself! All the
joy that your soul can hold, He can give you when alone with Himself.
Poor Sinner, if you are sorely grieved with a sense of your sin, and if
outward trials are pressing you very heavily, the Lord can give you joy
that shall fill your heart to overflowing from Himself, alone, if you
will but come to Him! He can give you the resolve to come–oh, that,
with all your heart, you would now seek His face and live in Him! May
His blessed Spirit work this Grace in you, and to Him shall be all
glory!
Many here well know what these vineyards are which the Lord gives to
His returning people. I will tell you of some into which I have been,
myself, and I wish to live in those vineyards all my days. One of them
is access to God in prayer. The wanderer is shut out from God, he
cannot come near to God in prayer. But when he returns to the Savior,
he finds that the Mercy Seat is still open and he can speak with God as
a man speaks with his friend. That is a vineyard bearing the sweetest
clusters!
A second vineyard is that of communion with God–to feel that God
dwells within us and we dwell in Him–that we are His children and that
He is our Father always manifesting Himself to us. That is a glorious
vineyard! If a man can but eat the fruit thereof, it will make him long
to go into the hill country of Heaven where the best grapes are
ripening for the perfected ones.
A third vineyard is that of full assurance of faith. May a backslider
ever come back to that vineyard? Yes, that he may! If you, poor
Wanderer, do so, you will be a happy man–not only to hope and to trust
that you are saved, but to knowit. And not only to know it, but to know
it infallibly, to know it so that all the devils in Hell cannot shake
your confidence that it is so–to know it by the witness of the Holy
Spirit's inward sealing of the Truth of God to your soul. This is a
blessed vineyard, indeed! God will give it to all those who truly come
back to Him. And may those who have not wandered, often go and dwell
amidst those sweet-smelling vines!
Yet another vineyard is usefulness. When backsliders return to the
Lord, He condescends to employ them and honor them in bringing others
to Himself. This is, indeed, to live in a vineyard where the grapes are
very sweet to the palate, for surely, men can hardly have greater joy
than that of leading others to the Savior's feet! And then, besides
these vineyards, there are the manifestations of Christ to His own.
There are openings up of the Word of God by the blessed Spirit. There
are the tokens of Divine Love even in Providence in a thousand varied
forms. I cannot tell you all the sweet and precious things–the joys
unspeakable–which the Lord gives to His own people when they come back
to Him and dwell with Him! Therefore, come back, poor Wanderer, and you
shall find it out for yourself! And you who have never come, before,
you, also, come by simple, humble faith, and the Lord will receive you
graciously and bless you this night and forever!
So much, then, for the first part of my subject–restored blessings.
II. The second division of my discourse is this, REVIVED HOPES–"I will
give her the Valley of Achor for a door of hope."
What was this Valley of Achor? It was the place of their first victory
over their enemies. I t was the first land upon which the Israelites
entered after they crossed the Jordan and the walls of Jericho fell
flat to the ground. Hard by the city of palm trees was the fertile
Valley of Achor. If ever the Israelites were to go back, again, they
must enter Palestine by the same door if they crossed the Jordan at
all–the key of the position was the Valley of Achor, the first region
of which they would have to take possession if they wished to win the
rest of the land.
And, surely, the spiritual meaning of the metaphor is this–the Lord
will give to backsliders, when they return to Him, a renewed
realization ofHis Grace–the old joyous feelings, the consciousness of
their first love coming back, their first simple faith being revived.
This taking possession, again, of that which was theirs at the first,
shall be to them, "a door of hope," that they shall, in time, take
possession of the land! I tell you, Brothers and Sisters, it is a very
blessed thing to get back to our first days. We may have better days
than our first ones if we go on and make the progress God desires for
us, but though they may be, in some respects, deeper and fuller, yet I
do not know whether we do not all look back upon the first days of our
conversion with very fond memories and some regrets. Other days have
become indistinct, like coins in general circulation, but, as far as I
am concerned, that first day of my spiritual life is, in my memory, as
clear, fresh and sharp as when it first came from the mint of time! Oh,
the bliss of that first joy when Jesus told me I was His and my Beloved
was mine! That first moment of rest when the burden rolled off my
shoulders–I will never forget it! I cannot help remembering it at this
moment. And it is a very sweet way of putting it, that the Lord will
give you back that first Valley into which you then came–that Valley
of Achor where first you set your foot–and you shall feel, again, as
you felt then!
To use another figure–though now you are covered with leprosy, your
flesh shall be, again, to you as the flesh of a little child–you shall
feel as if you were beginning your spiritual life over again. That
shall be to you, "a door of hope," for you shall say to yourself,
"Surely, the Lord means mercy to me. He has led me back to the very
spot where He blessed me at first! He has made me feel just as I felt,
then, and He has brought me to the same simplicity of faith which I
exercised in the young dawning of my spiritual life. Therefore am I
persuaded that He means, now, to lead me on from strength to strength
that, as I capture Achor, I may capture all the rest of the land and
all the blessings of the Covenant may be mine." Listen to this,
Backslider! Pluck up heart of hope! May God help you to do so and to
come back to Him, for He will give you that Valley of Achor to be a
door of hope!
But we cannot help remembering that the name of that Valley of Achor
signifies trouble. You have only to look in the margin of your Bible,
at Joshua 7:26, and you will find that it was the Valley of Trouble,
and the trouble came in this way–when the walls of Jericho fell flat
to the ground, there was one Achan, or Achar, or Achor, who took some
of the spoil which was all to have been either dedicated to God or else
destroyed. Before the children of Israel could have God's blessing,
they had to clear themselves from the guilt of this accursed thing.
They went out to battle and were defeated at Ai. Then there had to be a
searching and a digging–and at last they found the godly Babylonian
garment and the two hundred shekels of silver, and the wedge of gold.
And then they took Achan, and all that he had, and brought them into
the Valley of Achor–and destroyed and burned them–and buried them
under a great heap of stones. That Valley of Achor was, indeed, a
Valley of Trouble, but after Joshua and all Israel had purged
themselves from the evil, it became a door ofhope to them!
So, dear Friends, when you and I began our spiritual life, it was not
long before our joy was marred. Sin was still in our heart and, before
long, it broke out. There are many poor sinners who want to find peace,
who seem to me to be searching their hearts exactly the wrong way–they
are seeking for any good thing there may be in them–but that is a
sheer waste of time! The proper thing to do is to search your heart for
the bad things that are in you–to do as Israel did in the case of
Achan when they cast lots that God's will might be known and that His
Spirit might reveal the criminal. And then go and dig until you turn up
the evil and find the accursed thing. "Why, Sir!" you say, "I can
already see quite enough of my sins." Can you? I think that the fault
of most sinners is that they do not see half enough of their sin. "Oh,
but," you cry, "I see enough to drive me to despair!" I wish you saw
enough to drive you to double despair, for when a man heartily and
thoroughly despairs of himself, then will he begin to hope in Christ!
But many men try to find out some good thing in themselves and they dig
all over the camp to discover something of great price. Believe me,
there is not a grain of pure gold in all your mines! There is not
anything worth the finding in all Israel's camp! Dig as long as you
may, you will only dig out the evil thing on which God's curse is
resting!
There is many a sinner who cannot find the door of hope because he is
holding on to some evil thing. There is, for instance, the man who is
clinging to strong drink–he never can have peace with God when,
perhaps, only once in six months can he walk home in an upright
fashion. He cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils!
There is another man who is practicing some secret sin. I dare not say
what it is, but he knows. Yet he says that he is trying to find peace
with God. Ah, Sir, you will never obtain it while you cling to that
iniquity! You must cut off the evil thing, even if it is your right
arm! You must pluck it out, even if it is your right eye! Here is a
person who does something in business that he ought not to do–and here
is another man who omits to do what he knows that he ought to do. They
think that God will make peace with them on their terms, but He makes
no terms with sinners unless they will part with their sins and trust
in Christ alone! God will not save you and let you save your pet
sin–that cannot be! The place in which a man shall honestly give up
every willful act and thought of sin and, by the help of God's Spirit,
shall quit everything which is revealed to him to be evil, shall be to
him a door of hope! The place where he troubles himself because of his
sin, where his conscience frets and worries over it. The place where he
puts away the sin and buries it–and piles stones upon it because he
abhors it–that is the place where God shall come and manifest Himself
to him in the fullness of His Grace! "I will give her the Valley of
Achor for a door of hope." The place of Grace and the place of purging,
the place of chastisement and the place of turning away from sin–this
is the place that shall become the backslider's door of hope!
Now, Beloved, we will not spend all our time in talking about the door
and forget what the hopes are, but who can describe the hopes that come
trooping through that door? The hope of being kept, preserved and
sustained through every struggle of this life's campaign–the hope of
entering into eternal rest with Christ–the hope of the resurrection
from among the dead–the hope of infinite glory for body and soul with
Christ, world without end–all those hopes which your backsliding has
cast away shall come back to you! And, filled with hope, your spirit
shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory!
III. I have but a minute or two to dwell upon the last point, whereon
one might well speak for an hour–that is,
RENEWED SONGS.
You must have noticed, dear Friends, that whenever men turn aside from
Christ, they go away from all the music of true religion. A little
religion is a very miserable thing! If you have just enough religion to
let you know that you are wrong, but not enough to make you right, you
are spoiled for the joys of the world, yet you do not possess the joys
of the world to come. I cannot help telling you again the old American
story about the apples in the orchard. There is said to have been a
gentleman who asked a friend to come and have some of his apples, which
he said were among the finest apples in the State. Yet his friend did
not come, though he was invited several times. The gentleman thought
that there must be some reason for his refusal, so he asked him why he
did not come, and his friend answered, "The fact is, while I have been
driving by your orchard, I have picked up an apple or two that fell
into the road and I can't say that I have, at all, pleasant memories of
those apples–they were the sourest that I ever ate in my life! They
set my teeth on edge even to think of them." "Oh," said the owner of
the orchard, "now I understand! I sent a great many miles to buy those
particular apples that grow just by the side of the hedge and fall into
the road. I bought them for the special benefit of the boys who might
be inclined to steal my fruit. Whenever they taste them, they say to
themselves, ' It is no use to rob that orchard, the apples are horribly
sour.' But," he added, "if you will come inside, where those boys do
not come, you shall then see what a good apple is like."
So is it with religion. All along the outside of the hedge, where those
people come who have just a little religion, the fruit is as sour as it
can be–repentance that needs to be repented of–and that gripes the
very spirit of the man who has it. There are plenty of those things on
the outside, but you have no idea of the luscious sweetness of the
fruits that grow in the center–and these shall be yours if you come
back to the Master and give yourself up wholly to Him! And the result
will be that you will again begin to sing!
"She shall sing," says the text. She shall not be able to talk out her
joys, she shall feel that she must sing! "She shall sing there." That
is, in the wilderness, alone with Christ. "She shall sing there." "The
wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the
desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." "She shall sing there,
as in the days of her youth."" Youth is the time for singing! Young
converts are usually full of song and if we return to our Lord, after
having backslidden from Him, we shall get back the songs of our
spiritual childhood as well as all the other good things that were with
us when first we knew the Lord. Ah, poor Wanderer, if you come back to
Christ, you shall relish, again, the hymns that you began to despise
when you acquired that fine taste that some have which scorns the
precious things that please God's humble people. I know some who have
become so lofty and proud that the Gospel is not good enough for
them–they want something much more refined to suit their precious
wisdom and their wonderful culture! Yes, but when the Lord puts them on
short commons for a while and whips them well for their ill manners,
they are glad to get back to the simple hymns and to the elementary
Truths of God they once loved. You know how dear, good Dr. Guthrie,
when he was dying, wanted those around him to sing him a child's hymn
and, in another sense, when the children of God are spiritually
reviving, they always want to have the hymns that were good for them
when they were in their spiritual childhood.
The text further says, "She shall sing there, as in the days of her
youth, and as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt."" I
read you that song–oh, that our hearts might time to its tune! May we
come back to the Lord so perfectly that we shall be able to say, "Let
us sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously." May we see so
much of
His conquest of our sin that we may magnify His name and exalt in Him!
May we take Him so wholly to be ours that we may say again, "He is my
God and I will prepare Him an habitation. He is my father's God, and I
will exalt Him." I want you who have gone back from God, to get such a
renewed hold on Him that you will not know how to make enough of Him
and not know how sufficiently to praise and land and magnify that
infinite love which has brought you, as it were, through the very
depths of the sea and landed you safely on the other side! Oh, come,
let us sing unto the Lord! If your feet may not dance, yet let your
heart dance! And if you need no timbrel, as you are not under the old
dispensation in which such instruments were allowable, yet let your
fingers seem to beat the heavenly tunes! Let your whole being praise
and glorify the Lord who has brought you back from the land of your
captivity! If you blessed Him when you first came to Him, bless Him yet
more, now that you are allowed to come to Him for the second time! If
you praised Him when first you plunged in the fountain filled with
blood, oh, bless Him still more, now that He comes and washes your feet
which have wandered so far from Him. If the first homecoming was with
music and dancing, what shall the second homecoming be?–
"Angels, assist our mighty joys."
Rejoice with us over Brothers and Sisters who were dead and are alive
again–over lost ones that are now found! So may it be! Poor Wanderers,
do come home, do come home! "The door is shut," you say. Who shut it?
Certainly not the Father, for He has sent His Son to be the open Door
for all who will come unto Him! Christ Himself invites you to return!
The Spirit is given to draw you back to God and if you have never come
before, come now! Oh, that you might be persuaded to come, ere yet you
leave this House of Prayer, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: HOSEA 2:14,15; EXODUS 15:1-21.
[Exposition was always before the sermon.–EO]
You remember that, a fortnight ago, we read the second chapter of the
prophecy of Hosea, and I preached from the 14th verse. I am going to
continue that subject tonight, so we will read two verses of the same
chapter over again. I am sure we shall never exhaust it and you will
not be weary of hearing it. We will begin with the text from which I
then spoke to you.
Hosea 2:14, 15. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her
into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her And I will give her
her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope;
she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day
when she came up from the land of Egypt Now I want you to hear how she
did sing in the days of her youth, in the day when she came up from the
land of Egypt. Turn to the 15th Chapter of the Book of Exodus, where we
have the joyful song of the emancipated chosen nation.
Exodus 15:1-10. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song
unto the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for He has
triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has He thrown into the
sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation:
He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation. He is my father's
God, and I will exalt Him. The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is His
name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host has He cast into the sea: his
chosen captains also are drownedin the RedSea. The depths have covered
them: they sank into the bottom as a stone. Your right hand, O LORD,
has become glorious in power: Your right hand, O LORD, has dashed in
pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of Your excellency You have
overthrown them that rose up against You: You sent forth Your wrath
which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of Your nostrils the
waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and
the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I
will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be
satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
You did blow with Your wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in
the mighty waters. They were all noise, bluster and boast, but observe
the sublime attitude of God, how readily He eased Himself of His
adversaries–"You did blow with Your wind, the sea covered them: they
sank as lead in the mighty waters."
11-14. Who is like unto You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You,
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? You stretched
out Your right hand, the earth swallowed them. You in Your mercy have
led forth the people which You have redeemed: You have guided them in
Your strength unto Your holy habitation. The people shall hear and be
afraid: sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine. That
is, the heathen nations who, at that time, inhabited the land of
Palestine. "Sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of Palestine."
15. Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab,
trembling shall take hold upon them; all the inhabitants of Canaan
shall melt away. This great deed of God would be told, and told again,
all over Palestine. And the inhabitants would feel that their end was
come, for who could stand against Israel's mighty God?
16. Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of Your arm
they shall be as still as a stone; till Your people pass over, O LORD,
till the people pass over, which You have purchased. And how still they
were! All the 40 years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, they
were scarcely ever attacked. And even then it was not by the
inhabitants of Canaan, but by the wandering Bedouin tribe of the
Amalekites, who slew the hindmost of them. It was amazing that no
troops ever came from Egypt to molest God's people after the
destruction at the Red Sea. Neither from Canaan did any come to block
their way. When God strikes, He makes His adversaries dread all future
conflicts!
17-21. You shall bring them in, andplant them in the mountain of Your
inheritance, in theplace, O LORD, which You have made for You to dwell
in, in the Sanctuary, O LORD, which Your hands have established. The
LORD shall reign forever and ever. For the horse of Pharaoh went in
with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD
brought again the waters of the sea upon them, but the children of
Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea. And Miriam the
prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all
the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam
answered them, Sing you to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea. They sang as in an
oratorio, Miriam singing the solo, and all the women joining in the
jubilant chorus! And well might they rejoice after the great
deliverance which the Lord had worked for them.