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Sermons, left for publication by John Taylor
Sermons left for publication by John Taylor Author:Samuel Johnson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SERMON II. ISAIAH, CHAP. LV. VERSE 7. Let the wicked forsake Ms way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will ha... more »ve mercy upon him, and to onr God, for he will abundantly pardon. That God is a being of infinite mercy; that he desires not the death of a sinner, uor takes any pleasure in the misery of his creatures; may uot only be deduced from the consideration of his nature and his attributes; but, for the sake of those tliat are incapable of philosophical inquiries, who make far the greatest part of mankind, it is evidently revealed to us in the Scriptures, in which the Supreme Being, the source of life, the author of existence, who spake the word and the world was made, who commanded and it was created, is described as looking down,from the height of infinite felicity, with tenderness and pity, upon the sons of men; inciting them, by soft impulses, to perseverance in virtue, and recalling them, by instruction and punishment, from error and from vice. He is represented as uot more formidable for his power than amiable for his mercy ; and is introduced as expostulating with mankind upon their obstinacy in wickedness, and warning them, with the highest affection, to avoid those punishments, which the laws of his government make it necessary to inflict upon the inflexible aud disobedient, " Return unto me, and I will return unto yon, saith the Lord of Hosts:" Mai. iii. 7.—"Make yon a new heart, and a new spirit,.for why will ye die, 0 house of Israel ?" Ezek. xviii. 31. His mercy is erer made the chief motive of obedience to him ; and with the highest reason inculcated, as the attribute which may animate us most powerfully to an attention to our duty. " Tf thon, 0 Lord, wert extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who shall a...« less