Chapter 68. The Eighth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God to Be Reconciled to Si
only seek him, but I will go to him and beseech him." This is what you find in the text: Christ is said to have come to save and to seek that which was lost. We were all lost and would not seek Him, so He was obliged to come. Indeed, He came from the bosom of His Father.
He entered the world, and His great mission was to seek those who were lost, and when He found them, He beseeched them to be reconciled unto Him.
Chapter 68.
The Eighth Argument: Manifesting the Exceeding Willingness of God to Be Reconciled to Sinners Furthermore, God manifests His willingness to be reconciled in the ways He deals with wretched, sinful men, by sending His grace to allure the hearts of sinners. The Lord sends His mercy to display all its beauty and splendour before the sons of men—all its excellence and glory—so that it might entice the sinner's soul to come to Him.
He doesn't merely seek out sinners; He strives to win them over with love and mercy. This is God's way: to present His mercy before the soul, to display its beauty and excellence, to draw, entice, and allure the hearts of men. Thus, God, as it were, uses cords of love to draw the hearts of poor, sinful men to Himself.
If God were to frighten men into coming to Him, that would be one thing. But it is this that we have cause to bless God for: if the Lord approached in a terrifying manner, compelling us to come to Him so that peace might be made between God and us—though He may
sometimes use terror and wrath to stop men in their sinful ways and force them to turn—He also approaches with His mercy. He sets His mercy before the soul and displays its beauty, excellence, and glory before the sinner's heart, that it might allure them to come in.
God speaks of His people in Hosea 2:14: there was a great breach between Israel and God at that time, and when God would be reconciled to Israel, He expressed it this way: "Therefore, behold, I will allure her." And in Hosea 11:4, He says, "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." God dealt with them in a way that was suitable, understanding that human nature prefers to be drawn rather than driven, and cannot bear to be forced as much as it is willing to be led by love. Therefore, says God, "I will deal with them according to their nature, in a way that is suitable. I draw them with cords of a man and with bonds of love." Here we see the gracious expressions of God towards wretched sinners, to soften their hearts that they may come in and be reconciled to Him. God removes the terror of His greatness and approaches with loving and tender ways to draw the hearts of sinners.
I appeal to your consciences—have you, who know what it is to be reconciled to God, not seen the Lord presenting the riches of His grace before your souls? Have you not witnessed the alluring attributes of God, displayed before you to win your hearts to Himself?