An exposition of the prophecy of Hosea begun in divers lectures upon the first…An exposition of the prophesie of Hosea begun in divers lectures vpon the first…

It is a great evil that proceedeth from much weakness of spirit and distemper of heart, for people, though God hath done great things for them, yet if there come any rub in the way, and difficulty, any trouble, Oh now we are gone, now we are all lost, now God hath left us, we hoped that there would have come mercy, we looked for light, and behold darkness, now the heart sinketh, and all is presently given for gone. Know my brethren this is an evil and an unbelieving heart, an evil and an unthankful heart. God hath indeed done great things for us, yet how ready are we though God be in such a way, a glorious way of mercy, if we hear of any difficulty, of any little rub, any combining of the adversaries together? we must expect nothing now but blood, and bid farewell, and adieu to all our peace; we thought to have had happy days, but now the Lord is coming out against us, and all that is done must be undone again.¹ Why, why are you so full of unbelief? Surely this is unworthy of Christians, that profess an interest in God, & unworthy of all the good that God hath done for us. Peter though before he had walked upon the seas through the power of Christ, yet when the waves came, now Master save me, or else I perish. Hath not God made us walk upon the waves of the sea all this while? wrought as great a Miracle for us in England as he did for Peter? Yet when a wave doth but rise a little higher then before, we are so distressed in our spirits that we can scarcely cry, Oh Master save us; but we look one upon another and discourage one another hearts, and in stead of crying unto God, we cry out one to another in a discouraging way, and so pine away in our iniquities: Certainly God is exceedingly angry at such a demeanour as this, and yet this is ordinary, both in regard of nations, and particular persons. Of nations: It was so high with Judah (for I desire to keep as close as I can to the work I am about) though God had made this promise to Judah here, yet if we look into the 7. Isa. (Isaiah was contemporary with Hosea & it was not much after the making of this promise) we shall see how they were troubled with fear;

It is a great evil that proceedeth from much weaknes of spirit and distemper of heart, for people, though God hath done great things for them, yet if there come any rub in the way, and difficulty, any trouble, Oh now we are gone, now vve are all lost, now God hath left us, we hoped that there would have come mercy, we looked for light, and behold darkness, now the heart sinketh, and all is presently given for gone. Know my brethren this is an evil and an unbeleeving heart, an evil and an unthankful heart. God hath indeed done great things for us, yet how ready are wee though God be in such a way, a glorious way of mercy, if we hear of any difficulty, of any little rub, any combining of the adversaries together? we must expect nothing now but blood, and bid farwel, and adue to all our peace; we thought to have had happy dayes, but now the Lord is coming out against us, and all that is done must be undone againe.