He is near."[1] He is now near to hear us, though we cannot see Him. On the day of judgment we shall see Him, but He will not hear us, unless we now live so as to merit this blessing from Him.
CHAPTER XXVI.
OF THOSE WHO CONTINUE IN SIN, TRUSTING IN THE MERCY OF GOD.
BESIDES those who defer their conversion till the hour of death, there are others who persevere in sin, trusting in the mercy of God and the merits of His Passion. We must now disabuse them of this illusion.
You say that God's mercy is great, since He died on the cross for the salvation of sinners. It is indeed great, and a striking proof of its greatness is the fact that He bears with the blasphemy and malice of those who so presume upon the merits of His death as to make His cross, which was intended to destroy the kingdom of evil, a reason for multiplying sin. Had you a thousand lives you would owe them all to Him, yet you rob Him of that one life which you have and for which He died. This crime was more bitter to our Saviour than death itself. For it He reproaches us by the mouth of His prophet, though He does not complain of His sufferings: "The wicked have wrought upon My back; they have extended their iniquity."[2]
