How, then, will God deal with you ? Do you repent of the evil you have done against me ? He will say : Then " I will repent of all the evil which I have thought to do against you''." Are you saying. How shall I appear before my God ? He will say, " How shall I give thee up, Eplu'aim? How shall I de- liver thee up, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah ? How shall I set thee as Zeboim ? Mine heart is turned within me, ■my repentings are kindled together : I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger''." Does he behold you smiting on your thigh, with indignation against yourself, as a vile rebel- lious Avretch? He will construe it as an evidence of your relation to him, and will appeal in your behalf to the whole universe, " Is he not a dear son ? Is he not a pleasant child ? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still : therefore my bowels are troubled for him ; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord*^." The moment he sees thee bewailing bitterly the existence of thy sins, he " blots them out of the book of his remembrance," and " casts them u'recoverably into the depths of the sea."]
2. The believing —
[You are looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, as " set forth by God himself to be the propitiation for your sins;" and are desiring nothing under heaven so much as an interest in
him
Wliat, then, will God say to you? ' You shall not be dis- appointed of your hope. Dost thou renounce all dependence on thyself? I will not exact of thee any thing as a justifying righteousness. Dost thou look to what my dear Son has done and suffered for thee, and plead it as the ground of thy hope before me ? It shall be imputed to thee, and be accepted in thy behalf Thou washest in the fountain opened for sin : it shall cleanse thee so perfectl}^, that thou shalt stand before me without spot or blemish. Thou trustest in my word : and thou shalt find me a God of truth. Thou layest hold on my promises : not one of them shall ever fail thee. Thou art willing to be saved in the way of mine appointment : and ac- cording to thy faith it shall be unto thee. Thou art hoping for a crown of righteousness and glory, as the purchase of my Son's blood : thou shalt possess all that he himself possesses, and be "a joint heir with him" of crowns and kingdoms that shall never fail. Thou hast lived upon him : thou shalt live with him for ever and ever.']
3. The obedient —
'^ Exod. xxxii. 9 — 14. Jer. xviii. 7, 8. and xxvi. 13. " Hos. xi. 8, 9. f Jer. xxxi. 19, 20.