Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1940-04-11

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God Ioyes sirnersl This Is the
message Of the Bible God hates
SIN. but He loves sinners and is
eager that they should repent and
receive His forgiveness God even
loves the backsEder. the one who
has been IN fellowship with Him.
tasted the joys Of the eternal prom
ised land and then turned back to
the deshpots Of tee world This Ia
the special message q the book Of
Hosea, for he deals with a backslid-
ing and rebelli0us Israel 50 deter
mined 70 turn against Gods love
| that they are described In l1:7 Or
VI as being bent On backsfding- "
Israel failed 70 heed Gods warn
ing. did not respond TO His loving
can. and went On to judgment
May none Of Us be 50 foolish and
stubborn. God Is now calling sin
ners IN love and compassion. doing
everything in His power to lead
them to repentance and spiritual
healing. To-day. Il ye win hear his
voice, harden not your hearts" ops.
95:7. 81
L God Calling Sinners (6:1. %.
The great loving heart Of God
longs after Wayward men Though
they have In deliberate nbelief
turned from Him. yet He sends His
messenger to bring them His gra-
cious invitation. No more beautiful
word can be spoken than Come"
It speaks Of an open door. Of for
giving spirit, Of desire for renewed
fellowship.
Come, o sinner. and meet the
Saviour. He it Is who by both Life
and death has revealed the fullness
Of Gods love to you In Him you
win ind entrance into eternal Life
and Joy. He says. Il am the door.
by me II any man enter In he shall
be saved" (John 10:O.
Observe also the word return. !"
The invitation from God Is not only
to those who have never known Him.
but also to the backslider. How
many miseraklxs unhappy backslid-
den Christians there are in the
world Friend, II you are one Of
them, this invitation Is especially for
you'll
II. Gods Dealings With Sinners
(6:3D.
Our Lord Is both compassionate
and faithful In His dealings with
sinners. He viii win them with love
and tenderness IL they permit Him
to do 50. but II necessary He can
also use the rod Of punishment or
the storm Of unpleasant circum-
stances to drive them to Him. Re
member that both the tenderness
and the severity Of God are express
sions Of His love.
With Israel God wanted to come
as the gentle, reviving rain from
heaven ". 81. but because Of their
unrepentant attitude ". - He had
to come forth as One who news down
and destroys ". 50. Even In thus
breaking down and destroying He is
only preparing to rebuild. AS the
surgeon must first hurt In order to
heal, God must sometimes cut deep
ly In order to remove the blight Of
sin.
These lines win probably be read
by many who have wondered at the
dealings Of God with them. Perhaps
they have been inclined to condemn
Him as being unkind or severe. Let
them be assured that God Is love
and that back Of all Of His dealings
with men there L. His tender pur-
pose to bring them unto Himself for
salvation or for blessing.
III. God Healing Sinners (14:4-9).
When sinners come to Him with
words Of repentance u4:D God Is
ready to meet them and to heal all
Of their sins and backslidings. OBJ
serve that not only VIII He heal their
past sins. but win cause their pres
ent position to be such that He may
''love them freely ". q. and then
their future win be one Of great
glory. God Is infinitely gracious
and pours out His love without
measure upon the sinner who re-
turns to Him.
Verses s to 8 give beautiful pic
ture of Gods blessings on the life Of
the regenerated man. The lily ".
81 speaks Of stately royal beauty.
Lebanon ". 81 II strength and sta
bility, even as the great cedars Of
Lebanon were treasured for their
strength. The spreading branches
". 81 tell of expansion and growth.
The olive tree ". 81. the corn and
the vine ". ID, all speak Of fruitful.
ness and usefulness. The smell OF
Lebanon ". 81 is the smell Of cedar
and bespeaks a life so fragrant that
it spreads around II the sweet SAVIOR
of Christ I'll Cor. 2:l5). The ever.
green FIR tree ". 81 speaks Of con.
slant freshness and beauty.
God has all these things in minc
for every Christian. that is. for ev.
cry sinner who will repent and turr
to Him through Christ. and for every
backslider who will return to Hin
today.