And
Christians must show their charity towards unbelievers, not by abating
men's horror of infidelity, but by endeavoring to deliver them from its
deadly power.
7. And here comes another lesson. Do not suppose that unbelievers are
irreclaimable. There is always good ground to hope for the conversion of
those unbelievers who retain a respect for virtue, if they are properly
treated; and even those who are sunk in vice should not be abandoned in
despair. Several of those who have returned to Christ during the last
ten years, were men who had gone far in various forms of wickedness. And
many of those converts from infidelity of whom we read in old religious
books, were persons of immoral character. And though habits of vice are
not easily broken off, yet the miseries they entail on men may rouse
them to more vigorous efforts for their deliverance. And it sometimes
happens that those who are poor in promise, are rich in performance. You
remember the Saviour's parable of the two sons. The Father said to the
first, "Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." And he answered and said,
"I will not," but afterwards he repented and went. And the father said
to the second, "Go." And he answered and said, "I go, Sir," and went
not. And this, said Christ, is what takes place between Me and mankind.
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