<p>3:18 <i>With many other appeals he preached good tidings to the people</i>- The need to repent is in fact good news. The message that the Lord will &quot;burn with unquenchable fire&quot; those who reject Him is described as Jesus preaching &quot;good tidings unto the people&quot; (Lk. 3:18 RV). Likewise the stark teaching about the mortality of man in Is. 40 is quoted in 1 Pet. as being the Gospel. The harder side of God is in fact the good news for those who reflect deeply upon the essential message and nature of the Almighty. In Jer. 26:2, Jeremiah is warned to &ldquo;diminish not a word, if so be&hellip;&rdquo; Israel may repent. His temptation of course was to water down the message which he had to deliver. But only the harder, more demanding side of God might elicit response in them. By making the message less demanding, it wouldn&rsquo;t have any chance of eliciting a response.</p>