58
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
every lost soul; that “like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord
pitieth them that fear Him.”
Psalm 103:13
. Such a conception of
God was never given to the world by any religion but that of the
Bible. Heathenism teaches men to look upon the Supreme Being as
an object of fear rather than of love—a malign deity to be appeased
by sacrifices, rather than a Father pouring upon His children the gift
of His love. Even the people of Israel had become so blinded to the
precious teaching of the prophets concerning God that this revelation
of His paternal love was as an original subject, a new gift to the world.
The Jews held that God loved those who served Him,—according
to their view, those who fulfilled the requirements of the rabbis,—and
that all the rest of the world lay under His frown and curse. Not so,
said Jesus; the whole world, the evil and the good, lies in the sunshine
of His love. This truth you should have learned from nature itself; for
God “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and on the unjust.”
It is not because of inherent power that year by year the earth pro-
duces her bounties and continues her motion round the sun. The hand
of God guides the planets and keeps them in position in their orderly
[75]
march through the heavens. It is through His power that summer and
winter, seedtime and harvest, day and night follow each other in their
regular succession. It is by His word that vegetation flourishes, that
the leaves appear and the flowers bloom. Every good thing we have,
each ray of sunshine and shower of rain, every morsel of food, every
moment of life, is a gift of love.
While we were yet unloving and unlovely in character, “hateful,
and hating one another,” our heavenly Father had mercy on us. “After
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy He saved us.”
Titus 3:3-5
. His love received, will make us,
in like manner, kind and tender, not merely toward those who please
us, but to the most faulty and erring and sinful.
The children of God are those who are partakers of His nature. It
is not earthly rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor religious privilege,
which proves that we are members of the family of God; it is love, a
love that embraces all humanity. Even sinners whose hearts are not
utterly closed to God’s Spirit, will respond to kindness; while they may
give hate for hate, they will also give love for love. But it is only the