The experience of these persons, and that of many others related in holy writ, is surely sufficient to prove the willingness of God to forgive. Yet, take one more evidence of it, not from personal experience, however, but from the spirit of the teachings of the Son of God. On a certain occasion the apostle Peter came to Jesus and said: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him; till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times: but until seventy times seven."[D] [Footnote D: Matt. xviii: 21, 22.] Since the Lord requires so much mercy, such a generous spirit of forgiveness in his children, may it not be reasonably concluded--inasmuch as every noble quality that man possesses, is, in Deity, enlarged and perfected--that God is infinitely more forgiving than he has commanded his children to be? Such a conclusion, it seems to me, is but reasonable; and, indeed, it is needful that such an idea respecting the character of God, should exist in the minds of men; for, as I have remarked elsewhere, such is the weakness of man, and the frequency of his transgressions of God's law, that unless he knows that the Lord is merciful, slow to anger, long-suffering, and always ready to forgive, he would become disheartened; gloomy despair would drive hope from the soul; and, hope once destroyed, leaves man a prey to all the fiends of hell. He will then give a loose rein to every passion, and under the whip and spur of his desperation, ride recklessly to certain and everlasting destruction. He would have no good, he would know no evil. Lucifer-like, he would exclaim: * * * "Whither shall I fly? Which way I fly is hell--myself am hell! And in the lowest deep, a lower deep Still opening wider, threatens to devour me!" But man is rescued from this gloomy prospect by the assurance of God's longsuffering and willingness to forgive; by knowing that while man may drive compassion from his heart, God never will. Yet stay! there is something more. Because of the loving kindness of our Father in heaven, as abundantly manifested in his willingness to pardon our transgressions, let us not lay the flattering unction to our souls that we can go on sinning, carelessly and recklessly, without making any effort to resist evil, relying, nay, rather, presuming upon the kindness of God to forgive. Such a course would be doing despite to the grace of God; it would be an unmitigated insult to the Most High; a most presumptuous sin, deserving the severest condemnation.