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gratitude to God, for providing so easy a method of obtaining his favour?

If, therefore, any man be under the lashes of his conscience, he has here a sure mark of his acceptance with God: if, in the midst of his penitential tears, he can lay his hand upon his heart, and with sincerity say, I forgive those who have injured me, for the sake of that Saviour who forgave me, he may rest assured, that his pardon is sealed before God. But, on the contrary, if he retains any malice or hatred in his heart, though in the language of the prophet, "his eyes were tears, and his head a fountain of

waters," they would not suffice to wash away his sins. For Christ-hath expressly told us, "if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your

trespasses." Nay, the more strongly to enforce the necessity of performing this duty, he hath even obliged us to condemn ourselves in the face of heaven, if we do not forgive our brother: "forgive us, heavenly Father, as we "forgive others:" that is, forgive me, O my Father, as I forgive my offending brethren: extend the same compassion to me, which I shew to them: pardon my infinite transgressions against thee, my God, as I pardon the frailties of my offending fellow-creatures against myself.

It is on this condition only I can look for thy favour; it is on this condition only I can hope to die in peace; it is on this condition only I can hope to find mercy in that awful hour, when I shall most stand in need of mercy.

And surely, in such a request as this we cannot be cold or insensible. It is a wish that must lie near the heart of every man, that God would pardon his manifold transgressions and infirmities. For, whatever be our situation in life; however we may live in the sunshine of fortune, or in the smiles of the world, we cannot be happy without a sense of God's forgiveness: guilt is ever anxious and trembling it leaves a load in our breasts, which no smiles of fortune can remove, and which will continue to press us down with misery to the very end of our days, if we have not something to fly to for relief. And this relief is to be found from God alone, on the condition of forgiving our enemies. For, if we forgive not men their trespasses, neither will our heavenly Father forgive ours,

But, perhaps, the example of God may prevail upon us more than his precepts. If, therefore, we want farther motives to persuade us to forgiveness, let us behold our Redeemer dying upon the cross. If ever any man had a right to re

venge,

venge, it was certainly Jesus Christ. He suffered the greatest indignities; he was despised, buffeted, scourged, nailed to a cross between two thieves; had gall given him to drink; was loaded with curses and reviled with insults. And all this he suffered, though he was perfectly innocent in word and deed;--though he was the Son of God;-though he came into the world to redeem those very persecutors. And yet he cries, "Father, forgive them." He does not say, O thou righteous judge of quick and dead, avenger of oppressed innocence, revenge my cause; but, Father forgive them:-pardon their perjury, calumny, malice, and false witness:Father, forgive this ungrateful people, whom I preferred before all nations:-forgive Judas, who betrayed me;-forgive the Pharisees, who delivered me up ;-Herod, who mocked me;-the false witnesses, who accused me ;-Pilate, who condemned me; and the very murderers, who nailed me to the cross-Father, forgive them all; for they know not what they do.

This was the way that the Son of God revenged his death; even by praying for his murderers. And doth not his example speak to us in the most forcible language,-" even as I forgave, so "also do ye." Shall Christ forgive his very murderers, and shall we scruple to forgive our brethren?

brethren? Shall the Creator pardon the insults of the creature he had formed, and shall man be wroth with man? Shall God forgive us the im mense sum of our sins, and shall we refuse to forgive one another the smallest matters? Shall an angry word, an affront, a neglect, a blow, provoke us to thirst for the blood or ruin of a fellow-creature? Shall a difference of opinion, a jest, a slight, or an imaginary or petty trespass, incite us to harass the fortunes, or mangle the reputation of a neighbour, which is dearer to him than life? No: God forgave us for the sake of his Son, and let us forgive one another for the sake of God. Let us follow our Redeemer's command of loving one another, and his example of forgiving our bitterest enemies.

Lastly, if after this, we can want any farther arguments, for forgiveness and reconciliation, let as well consider, how vain and foolish all our angry and implacable thoughts will one day appear, even to ourselves. Can we forget that the present life soon draws to an end? That soon will all our joys and cares, our friendships and hatreds, our rival hopes and jealous fears, give way to prospects of a very different kind? And when this period arrives, little distant perhaps from some of us, and certainly not far distant from all,-when we lie down on that bed. of

mortality,

mortality, from which we shall never rise till the trump of the archangel awakes us,-which of us will not then wish to say, which of us can forbear to say; I am now going to bid a last farewell to a vain and tiresome world: I am now. taking a last leave of my fellow-travellers, through a painful and laborious journey:--I may, perhaps, have fallen out with them by the way: some of them, perhaps, have treated me with less kindness than I could have wished, and others have embittered my past days with more enmity and unkindness than I think I deserved. But I am now going, whither the hand that injured, or the head that over-reached, can never more approach to hurt me. And shall I then carry my resentments into the other world? Whilst I myself am mortal, shall I make my weak passions and frailties immortal? Will this recommend me to a God of mercy? Will this plead for me at the throne of mercy? No: let me rather forget all those little grievances, which sprung from men, vain and frail like myself:-let me rather pity and forgive those various unruly passions, which they are left behind to struggle with, and congratulate my own good fortune, that I am arrived at the end of my journey, that I am now laying down a frail and wretched existence, which has too long exposed me to the assaults of

ungovern

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