undergo, for the sake of his divine Master. He counted not his very life dear, so that he might propagate the glorious truth, and promote his Saviour's honour. -Zaccheus was instantly changed in his dispositions and conduct; for the extortioner made restitution, and put on bowels of mercy. The woman of Samaria immediately drew numbers to hear that gracious voice which quickened her own soul; and to receive him as the Christ, by whom she was instructed, pardoned, and comforted. The gaoler manifested ready obedience to the commands of his Saviour, as King in Zion, by submitting to the ordinance of baptism. He evidenced his love to the despised ministers of the saving truth, by washing the stripes of his two illustrious prisoners, and by treating them, at his hospitable board, with a cordial welcome. And the thief, the few moments he had to live, after he enjoyed the blessings of grace, confessed his sin, justified God in the punishment he then suffered, and, in love to the soul of his partner in villany and infamy, reproved him for his blasphemy, and warned him of his danger-the dreadful danger of losing his soul, and suffering eternal wrath.

I am persuaded that the testimonies and facts already produced and pleaded in order to prove that pardon is free, detached from all works, dependent on no conditions to be performed by the sinner, are quite sufficient; otherwise I might easily add to their number, by producing other examples and more declarations from the sacred volume. But these I omit, and shall only just remind my reader of that very remarkable and truly evangelical text, When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.'* Now, as none can deny that pardon of sin is essential to a state of friendship and reconciliation with God, certainly the reconciliation and forgiveness of those who are enemies to him can never be on account of any thing amiable which they possess, or any thing good which they have done.

*Rom. v. 10.

Such a supposition, if any were absurd enough to make it, would confound the two absolutely contradictory ideas of enmity and friendship.

Here let us pause a moment, and indulge reflection. Is there no forgiveness of any offender, or the least offence, but by shedding of blood; the infinitely precious blood of Jesus, the incarnate God? How awfully evil, how inconceivably great, the malignity of sin! The dignity of the Person who suffered for it; the superlative interest he had in his Father's love; and the more than mountainous weight of divine wrath which he bore in his complicated sufferings; much more strongly express the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the infinite purity of God, than the everlasting punishment of the damned in hell. Here we behold, in the clearest light, that our Sovereign is absolutely just, as well as divinely merciful, in granting a free pardon to the most worthless and guilty. Here are the righteous Judge and the suffering Saviour, inflexible justice, and triumphant grace, in the same point of view. The curse is executed in all its rigour, and mercy is manifested in all its riches. Here the Lord of all appears dispensing innumerable and free pardons; but in such a way as preserves the honour of his law inviolate, and maintains the rights of his divine government in such a way as is the surprise of angels, and the wonder of heaven. To contrive it was the work of infinite wisdom; to manifest it, a display of boundless grace. In such a method of dispensing forgiveness, how safely may the alarmed conscience rest! For while it is most happily calculated to impress the mind with an awful sense of the infinite evil of sin, the purity of the divine nature, and the extensive demands of the holy law, it encourages the most unreserved confidence in mercy thus revealed, and cherishes the liveliest hope in grace thus reigning.

Again: Is there a full and free forgiveness-a forgiveness vouchsafed without any terms or conditions to be performed by the enfeebled and corrupted creature? How shamefully, then, do such persons injure

the grace of God, and draw a veil over its most shining excellencies, who teach, or imagine, that pardon of sin is not to be expected, nor can be received, till the sinner is prepared for it by a longer or shorter course of humiliation, self-denial, or holiness of conversation! This pardon, far from being suspended on conditions to be performed by us, flows from sovereign grace, is according to the infinite riches of grace, and is intended by Jehovah to aggrandize his grace in the view of all the redeemed, and before the angels of light, both here and hereafter. That forgiveness which is with God, is such as becomes the Majesty of heaven, such as is suited to his own infinite excellencies. When the Lord of the world pardons sin, he demonstrates himself to be God in so doing; infinitely superior to all his creatures in acts of forgiveness, as well as in every perfection of his nature. For thus it is written, I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim.' What is the reason of this divine forbearance? It follows, For I am God, and not man.' In reference to the pardon of sin, Jehovah again declares, For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.' He freely forgives our ten thousand talents, when, alas! we can scarcely forgive those who are indebted to us so much as a hundred pence. Thus the Lord, in bestowing a full and free pardon on guilty perishing creatures, exceeds the utmost of human deserts; the highest instances of human compassion; rather, all our expectations and all our thoughts. May a lively sense of this free forgiveness rest on the mind, comfort the heart, and elevate the affection of my reader! Then shall his conduct declare, that as it is a blessing immensely great, and comes to sinners through atoning blood,

so it is connected with true holiness-that it is a strong incentive to fear the Lord; to love, adore, and obey him. Then shall he be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.'

Once more: This forgiveness is everlasting and irreversible. This is the last and crowning requisite of a complete pardon. Various passages in sacred writ evince the glorious truth. Among many others, that charming clause in the new covenant is not the least remarkable: 'I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. "* This declaration is made by truth itself. This declaration, and the blessing signified by it, enter into the very essence of the new, the better, the unchangeable covenant. If, then, He who alone has a power to punish and a right to pardon the criminal, declares that he will remember his iniquities no more, we may rest assured that it is an everlasting forgiveness-a pardon never to be reversed. This declaration is not simply a promise, though a mere promise from the God of truth is irrevocable; but it is a promise in a covenant form, an absolute promise, which Faithfulness itself is engaged to make good. The continuance of a pardoned state not depending on conditions so to be performed by the sinner, but on the perpetual efficacy of the atonement of Christ, and the inviolable faithfulness of the eternal God, there is all possible security that a full and free pardon, once granted, shall ever abide in its full force, and in all its glory.

The same comfortable truth is taught and confirmed by David. As far as east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.'+ Hence we infer that the sins of those who are forgiven shall never come against them to their condemnation, unless those two opposite points should ever meet, and so cease to be what they are. Nor can the blessedness which the Psalmist, in another place, + Psalm ciii. 12.

*Heb. viii. 12.

ascribes to the pardoned sinner, be accounted for on any other supposition. 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.' For if all his offences were not forgiven, all entirely, and that for ever; what peace for his conscience here, what hope of glory hereafter, could he enjoy? If the continuance of his pardoned state depended on his own obedience-if, by a relapse into sin, he would again be liable to condemnation and wrath, all his present enjoyments and future hopes would not deserve the name of blessedness, the tenure by which they are held being so precarious. Precarious! I retract the expression. There would be all the certainty on the opposite side that could be had; not the least probability in his favour, or the least ground to suppose that he would ever obtain eternal happiness. And where the conscience is awake, present peace will always keep pace with a hope of future felicity.

Another inspired penman thus expressed the joyful truth: Thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.'* The transgressions of the pardoned sinner are here compared to a stone, or some ponderous thing, which, when cast into the fathomless deep, is absolutely irrecoverable by all the art and power of man. The loftiest towers, the most enormous mountains, with all the cumbrous load of rocks and forests, if cast into the ocean, would all entirely disappear and be lost for ever. By this expressive and striking image does the Holy Ghost represent the perpetuity of that forgiveness which is with God, and is vouchsafed to the believer. Conformably to which the Lord says, 'The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.'. The reason of the assertion is contained in the following words : For I will pardon them whom I reserve:'ta convincing proof that they who are pardoned by the God of Grace, have all their sins forgiven, and that for ever. Isaiah, the evangelist of the Jewish church,