The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-05-14

IT, lumulG:' OF IN luVauluB army. AS ouai-
mani" Shslmanezer Of Assyria "Beth-Arbel:" )"
near tho sea Of Galilee, some terrible siege, un.
recorded.
LESSON COMMENTS.
The times in which the prophet lived
were very evil, the people had wan
dered very far away from the command
ments of God. The more God had
blessed them, the more they had gone
after idolatry, and the worse had they
become. Their very prosperity, that
should have been used In the service Of
Him who sent it, was used in opposition
to His commands. On this account 1t Is
that the prophet foretells the sorrow
and pain that is in store for the peo-
pie, and tries in vain to bring them to
repentance for their transgressions. AL
his efforts were useless; for the people
were bent on mischief, and would not
be warned.
"Sin the Cause of Sorrows" That
was the case in the times Of Hosea, and
1t is still the case. The world is full of
sorrow. In my own experience this
very day have had two such cases. In
the one a lady from New England writes
to me about her brother, who has almost
broken her heart. He is in a hospital,
brought there by strong drink. Wife
and children are in poverty, and he him
self is about to be ruined by his appe-
tite. In the other, man is about to
lose his situation, and find himself with
out the means Of support, all because of
the same sin. Every man in jail means
q mother, or a sister, or wife and
children, who are in sorrow, and per-
haps also bodily suffering for his crime.
If only children would be obedient to
their parents, how many boy would
be saved from moral shipwreck, and
how many girls life would be saved.
Yes, it is not our misfortune SO much as
our fault that we suffer.
But besides these sins which we see,
there are others that we do not see that
bring with them suffering. Men may
laugh at the Original sin," but they
shall weep for it all the same. 1t is be-
cause of the sins Of the race that we are
doomed to suffer in these latter days. If
there had been no sin, there would have
been no suffering at all in our times, or in
any times. Sin has more children than
anything else in the world; for its prog
eny is multitudinous one, and all sad
and heartrending.
We have seen how sin is the cause of
sorrow. But blessed be God, the con-
verse of this is true as well. So for the
rest Of this lesson let us look at the
fact that Repentance is the cause Of
rejoicing" The prophet tried, though
in vain, to bring the people to re-
pentant frame of mind, because he
knew that then their sorrows
would come to an end, and they
would have joy and rejoicing.
''Sow to yourselves in righteousness,
and reap in mercy" was his message.
He promised that If they should do this,
the Lord would "rain righteousness up
on you" That which was true then
is still true. If a man whose sins have
brought sorrow upon himself, and all
those who are dear to him, wants to
have joy, the only way in which he can
secure this is by repentance. The
prodigal son had no Joy until he came
to his fathers house with a penitent
heart and confessed his sins. Till that
had been done there was no opportuni-
ty for him to sit down at the we'll
laden table and eat Of what was pro-
vided. Music and dancing could not be
enjoyed till he had repented. So with
the sinner to-day. If you would bring
your sorrow to an end, there is but one
way in which that can be done. Thus
far the sowing has been one of sins, and
the reaping has been in tears. Hence
forth let the sowing be in righteousness,
and the reaping shall be in peace and
mercy. You cannot SOW sin and reap
Joy, any more than you can SOW thistles
and reap corn. The two things do not
go together.-Rev. A. f. Schaufler, ID.
HE Is a wise man that can reason q