withstand these, there is no hope that any others could be urged with effect.]
Address —
1. Those who still hold out against God —
[We call heaven and earth to witness against you, that you are most unreasonable creatures. The ox and the ass are indeed more rational than you are in relation to your souls. They seek their true interests, and acknowledge their benefactor: would to God that you might be brought to do the same !]
2. Those who are convinced by his reasonings —
[Beware how you listen to the dictates of flesh and blood. You know how you have been deceived ; be on your guard against fresh deceits. Regard not the laughter of a blind infa- tuated world. They may call you mad; but they, and they only, are " come to themselves," who have been brought to say, " I will return and go to my Father."]
Isai. i. 25. I ivill turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take aivay all thy tin.
IN the Holy Scriptures, judgment is often de- nounced, and mercy promised, with such peculiar force and emphasis, as might lead one to imagine that it was almost a matter of indifference to Jehovah which of the two were called into exercise towards his offending creatures. But we know that "^ judg- ment is his strange act," to which he is utterly averse ^ ; and that '■' mercy is the attribute in whicli he supremely delights'"." In the passage before us, however, he speaks as if he contemplated vengeance with a degree of pleasure and satisfaction : " Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel ; Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies." On the other hand, in the words which I have just read, he expresses no less satisfaction in the thought of conferring benefits on his chosen remnant, whom he has determined to restore and save.
a Isai, xxviii. 21. "^ Mic. vii. 18.