CONSIDERATION XVIII
Of the Number of Sins
"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Eccles. viii. 11.
First Point.
IF God were at once to chastise offences, He would not be insulted as He is now; but because the Lord delays His punishment, and waits, sinners take courage to further offend Him. We must understand, that though God waits and endures, He will not wait and suffer for ever. It is the opinion of many of the holy Fathers, that like as God has determined for each man the days of his life, the state of his health, the talents He wills to bestow upon him " Thou hast ordered all things in measure, number, and weight" (Wisd. xi. 21) so has He determined for each one, the number of sins which He will pardon, which, being fulfilled, He pardons no more. S. Augustine says, "We should remember that for a certain time the long-suffering of God bears with each one of us, but when this time is completed, no pardon is reserved for him." Eusebius of Caesarea also says that " God waits up to a certain number, and afterwards leaves the sinner."
This opinion of the Fathers is supported by Holy Scripture. In one place it says that the Lord delayed the ruin of the Amorites. " For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." (Gen. xv. 16.) In another, "I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel." (Hos. i. 6.) Again, " Because all those
