he may pardon and save them. "As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live." (Ezech. xxxiii. 11.) St. Augustine goes so far as to say that the Lord, if he were not God, should he unjust on account of his excessive patience towards sinners. ” Deus, Deus incus, pace tua dicam, nisi quia Deus esses, injustus esses." By waiting for those who abuse his patience to multiply their sins, God appears to do an injustice to the divine honour. ” We," continues the saint, "sin; we adhere to sin (some of us become familiar and intimate with sin, and sleep for months and years in this miserable state); we rejoice at sin (some of us go so far as to boast of our wickedness); and thou art appeased! "We provoke thce to anger thou dost invite us to mercy." We and God appear to be, as it were, engaged in a contest, in which we labour to provoke him to chastise our guilt, and he invites us to pardon.
7. Lord, exclaimed holy Job, what is man, that thou dost entertain so great an esteem for him? Why dost thou love him so tenderly? ” What is man that thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost thou set thy heart upon him ?" (Job. vii. ] 7.) St. Denis the Areopagite says, that God seeks after sinners like a despised lover, entreating them not to destroy themselves. ” Deus etiam a se aversos amatorie sequitur, et deprecatur ne pereant." Why, ungrateful souls, do you fly from me? I love you and desire nothing but your welfare. Ah, sinners! says St. Teresa, remember that he who now calls and seeks after you, is that God who shall one day be your judge. If you are lost, the great mercies which he now shows you, shall be the greatest torments which, you shall suffer in hell.
Third Point. Mercy of God in receiving penitent sinners.
8. Should a subject who has rebelled against an earthly monarch go into the presence of his sovereign to ask pardon, the prince instantly banishes the rebel from his sight, and does not condescend even to look at him. But God does not treat us in this manner, when we go with humility before him to implore mercy and
