Avoiding the Cross: Be Nice.

Isaiah 3:10 "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat
the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward
of his hands shall be given him."

Isaiah must avoid two snares: Demoralizing the righteous and enabling the wicked.
He is to comfort the one and discomfort the other.

Hence, Isaiah has to know which are which. It will be well with righteous people;
it will not be well with wicked people, because God is in heaven and He knows the
difference between them and He knows their destiny. So should the minister know,
but his knowledge is not specific as is God's, but general. He knows the marks of
ungodliness, but cannot know an individual's final state. God does, of course.

The minister speaks in general as to the condition of the righteous and ungodly;
the Holy Spirit takes the Scripture and make it specific to the conscience.

Ministers, to avoid the cross, often sooth those who should not be soothed and
make sad those whom they ought not to make sad. Sometimes it is in ignorance,
but the effect is the same. It is a great responsibility to preach the gospel of Christ,
for the minister does not have his own message; he is bound to the Scriptures.

Ezekiel said of the false prophets of his day, Eze 13:22, 23 "Because with lies ye have
made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened
the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising
him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will
deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

Paul said to Timothy: "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." --2 Tim. 4:2.

Philippians 3:18, 19  "For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell
you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind
earthly things."

Moth, Rot, Lion, Bear

The major theme of the Word of the Lord that came to Hosea for Israel was
God's condemnation of their syncretism.  Israel was compared to Hosea's
unfaithful wife and Israel's idols to the lovers of the unfaithful wives. Israel took
God's corn, oil, wine, gold, and silver and offered it to Baal.  [Hos. 2:8]. Of
course, the devil has no corn and wine or anything else, for everything belongs
to God. God's people are to seek them from none other but God the Creator,
the God of the Bible and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is compared to a jealous husband, but that is not the only comparison.
He also compares Himself to other things.

MOTH AND MOLD: Hos. 5:12  "Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a
moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness."  Their nation would rot away
and waste as a garment eaten with moths, because God would take away His
protection from them and evil forces would consume them

LION: Hos. 5:14:  "For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion
to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and
none shall rescue him." God's protection would be removed so that the fierce
nations around them would rip and tear away huge chunks of their possession
and there would be nobody to help them.

BEAR,  Ho 13:8 I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and
will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild
beast shall tear them.

Hos 6:5, 6: "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by
the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I
desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt
offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they
dealt treacherously against me."

They behaved exactly like Adam, our first father, who rebelled against his Creator,
though to seize the inheritance for himself, and involved us all in his ruin. They
refused to repent but thought they could fine a savior other than God, so they
went looking for other lovers, for they would not have God to rule over them.

If God nothing but sweetness and light, why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem?