Free mercy, utter pardon, pardon for all, even for the worst. And
what is the argument which Isaiah uses to make his countrymen repent?
Is it "Repent, or you shall be damned: Repent because God's wrath
and curse is against you. The Lord hates you and despises you, and
you must crawl to His feet like beaten hounds, and entreat Him not to
strike you into hell as He intends"? Not so; it was because God
loved the Jews, that they were to repent. It is because God loves
you that you must repent. "Incline your ear," saith the Lord, "and
come unto me, hear, and your soul shall live; and you shall eat that
which is good, and your soul shall delight itself in fatness." Yes,
God is love. God's delight and glory is to give; in spite of all our
sins He gives and gives, sending rain and fruitful seasons to just
and unjust, to fill their hearts with joy and gladness; and all the
while men fancy that it is not God that gives, but they who take.
God has not left Himself, as St. Paul says, without a witness; every
fruitful shower and quickening gleam of sunshine cries to us--See!
God is love: He is the giver. And men will not hear that voice.
They say in their hearts, "The Lord is far away above the skies; He
does not care for us: we must help ourselves, each man to what he
can get off this earth; nay, even, when we are hard put to it for a
living, we must break God's laws to keep ourselves alive, and so
steal from God's table the very good things which He offers us
freely.
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