Page:Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah (Baron, David).djvu/31

 shall come from the presence of the Lord " (Acts iii. 1 9, xvii. 30).

And we may pause and ask, Is there less need for this kind of preaching now than there was in Jeremiah's or in Paul's time? Is man's attitude and tendency more Godward and heavenward now than it was then? Is man all right, or is he radically wrong? Does man's natural course lead to life, or does the end of it lead to death? Upon the answer to these questions depends the answer as to who are the true prophets and genuine friends of man; whether those who cry, " Turn ye, turn ye; for why will ye die? " or those who speak of " the world's progress," and tell corrupt, sinful men that they are themselves potentially Christs, who need only develop " the good that is in them," and who still cry, " Peace, peace," although there is no peace. We may be forgiven for digressing somewhat beyond the limits of the passage before us; but we believe that this question of repentance touches the very heart of man's relationship to God. It shows us, as we have seen, man's condition as apostate from God, with his face turned away from the fountain of light and life. It tells us that man's great need is to forsake not only his outward ways, but also his thoughts, and to return to the Lord; and it reveals to us the grace and love of God, who has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but yearns for his return, " because He delighteth in mercy," and has, at the cost of the sacrifice of His own Son, devised a means for reconciliation, " that His banished be not expelled from Him " (2 Sam. xiv. 14).

Let us return, therefore, unto the Lord, and He, accord ing to His promise, will " return unto us " we with our sins, He with His grace and forgiveness; we with our poverty and need, He with His exceeding " riches " and infinite fulness; we with our wretchedness and fears, He with His " everlasting consolation and good hope " yea, with His peace, which passeth all understanding, and with His joy, which is unspeakable and full of glory. And if we find no power of ourselves to come to Him, let us pray, as Israel will by and by: " Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord,