the proof, which it indirectly exhibits, of our Sa-
viour's readiness to forgive, again and again, those
who trespass against him. It may, I conceive, be
very satisfactorily shewn, that he regulates his own
conduct by the rule, which he here gives to us,
that he is quite as ready to forgive, as he requires
us to be, and that, however frequently we may
have trespassed against him, he will, if we repent
of our trespasses, forgive us. And it is highly im-
portant, that his people should entertain a deep,
heartfelt conviction of this truth ; for many of the
evils under which they groan, result from the want
of such a conviction, or from their not having just
and adequate views of the boundless extent of his



OF FORGIVENESS. 327

pardoning mercy. They believe that it is great,
but are far from seeing how great it really is.
They believe that he can forgive them once, twice,
thrice, and they find that he does so. But when,
after being often forgiven, they are betrayed into
new offences, they not unfrequently begin to think
that he must be weary of forgiving them, and that
it will be little better than an insult to ask him to
forgive them again. Hence they dare not implore
his forgiveness, dare not approach him with confi-
dence, but remain at a distance, unpardoned, op-
pressed with conscious guilt, and a prey to gloomy,
desponding, apprehensions. They have no cour-
age to attempt the performance of difficult duties,
no strength to resist temptations ; their comfort is
gone, their religious progress is interrupted. Thus
a sin, which, had it been immediately repented of
and confessed, would have been pardoned, becomes
the occasion of many sins, and perhaps of a long
course of declension. Now all these evils would be
prevented by adequate views of our Saviour's read-
iness to forgive. Of course, it is highly important,
that all his people should possess such views. I
shall therefore, endeavor to shew, that if we tres-
pass against Christ seven times, or any number of
times, . in a day, and as often turn unto him in the
exercise of unfeigned repentance, he will freely
forgive us, and restore us to favor. But before we
proceed to establish this truth, it will be necessary
to make some remarks with a view to illustrate its



328 UNIVERSAL LAW

import, and prevent dangerous mistakes. And,
1. It must be carefully kept in mind, that the
rule, which our Saviour here gives us, relates not
to what men would call crimes, not to those gross
public offences, which transgress the laws and dis-
turb the peace of society ; nor even to gross
injuries, but to trespasses only. We cannot suppose
him to mean, that if a man should attempt seven
times in a day to murder, or rob us, or to steal our
property, and, when detected, should say, I repent,
— we must forgive him, and suffer him to go at
large unpunished. It would be perfectly evident
in such a case, that the offender did not repent,
and that his professed repentance was all a pretence.
The word, trespass, seems to mean offences of a
different kind, and of a more private nature ; such
offences as a man may be led into repeatedly by
misapprehension, or sudden passion, or an unhappy
temper. These causes may, it is evident, lead
men to offend, and to offend often, those whom
they really love. They may lead a relative, a
friend, a christian brother, or one, on whom we have
conferred favors, to speak reproachfully, to treat
us unkindly, to withhold such acts and expressions
of kindness, as we had a right to expect, and in
various other ways to wound our feelings. Now
offences of this nature, are what our Saviour means
by trespasses, and such trespasses, however often
they may be repeated, we are to forgive, if the
offender expresses sorrow and asks forgiveness. It
is to offences of a similar nature, committed against



OP FORGIVENESS. 329

Christ by his disciples, that we refer in tiie present
discourse. He, it will be recollected, sustains with
respect to his people various offices and various
relations. He is their master, their teacher, their
shepherd, their guide, their advocate, their bene-
factor, their brother, their friend. He has, therefore,
a right to be regarded and treated as such. He
has a right to expect their obedience, their confi-
dence, their gratitude and love ; in a word, their
supreme affection and regard. He has also a right
to expect, that they will follow him wherever he
leads the way ; that they will be contented and sat-
isfied with all his dispensations, and that his honor
and interest shall lie near their hearts. Whenever
his people forget and overlook their rights, when
they cease to regard and treat him as he deserves ;
when their love and gratitude grow cold ; when
their confidence in him declines, and they in-
dulge doubts and suspicions respecting his faithful-
ness ; when they murmur, repine, or become
discontented with his allotments ; when they feel
little concern for his cause ; in short, when they
neglect to do what will please him, or indulge in
any thing, which they know will grieve or offend
him, then they are guilty of trespassing against
Christ ; for all offences of this nature are directly
against him. They are not, strictly and literally
speaking, direct violations of the moral law ; nor
are they committed directly against God the
Father, though he is, of course, offended whenever
he sees his Son treated unworthily ; but they are,
42



330 UNIVERSAL LAW

in the strictest sense, trespasses against Christ,
considered as sustaining all those offices and rela-
lations, which were mentioned above. They are
trespasses against one, who has condescended to
become our brother, benefactor and friend ; and he
might justly be provoked by them to withdraw and
hide himself from the offenders, and to suspend all
further bestowal of his favor, all his kind interpo-
sitions on their behalf. Now these trespasses
against Christ include all the sins, into which his
people are most liable to fall, and almost the only
sins, into which they are liable to fall frequently ;
for Christians will not sin wilfully, nor will any
Christian be frequently guilty of gross and open
offences. But any Christian may trespass against
Christ, we cannot say how frequently, in some of
the ways, which have just been mentioned. He
may daily, and many times in a day, grieve his
Saviour, by the want of right feelings towards him,
or by the exercise of those which are wrong. Many
times in a day he may forget him, or think of him
without gratitude, confidence and love ; at all times
his affection for his Saviour falls very far short of
what he deserves. Now these are the trespasses
which, however often repeated, Christ will always
forgive, as soon as we turn to him in the exercise
of repentance : and should we grieve and offend him
by such trespasses seven times, or seventy times
seven in a day, and continue thus to multiply our
trespasses for years, still, every new exercise of
repentance on our part, would be followed by a



OF FORGIVENESS. 331

new act of forgiveness on his. But let no bold pre-
sumptuous offender infer from this truth, that
Christ will, in like manner, forgive known, wilful,
deliberate sins. Let no one suppose, that he may
be daily or frequently guilty of fraud, or intoxica-
tion, or profaneness, or of any wilful transgression,
and yet escape punishment by saying at night, I
repent. It is most evident, that such a man does
not repent, that he is not a disciple of Christ, that
he has no part nor lot in the matter. This leads
me to remark,

2. That, in the rule which our Saviour here
gives, he requires us to forgive an offending broth-
er on his professing repentance, or on his exhibit-
ing external evidence that he repents. As we
cannot search the heart, this external evidence is
all which we can justly require or expect ; and
where this evidence is given, we must charitably
hope that the repentance is sincere. But our Sav-
iour, it must be recollected, can search the heart.
He therefore cannot, and ought not, to be satisfied
with any professions or external evidences of repen-
tance, or with any thing indeed but repentance it-
self. In this respect, therefore, the rule before us,
considered as adopted by our Saviour for the reg-
ulation of his conduct, must be slightly varied. We
must forgive, when offenders seem to repent. He
will forgive, when they really do repent. We re-
mark,

3. That the word, forgiveness, may be used in
two senses somewhat different. It may be used to



332 UNIVERSAL LAW

signify either an official act, or the act of a private
individual. Considered as an official act, forgive-
ness is the remission of deserved punishment, or of
that punishment, to which transgressors are legally
doomed. In this sense, forgiveness can be grant-
ed only by one, who has authority to do it. It can-
not be granted by a private individual. No pri-
vate individual, for instance, can forgive or pardon
a murderer. No such individual has any right to
say, that a murderer shall not be punished. But
forgiveness, considered as the act of a private in-
dividual, is something different. It consists in lay-
ing aside all feelings of revenge, and ill will, and
displeasure, towards the offender, and in restoring
him to the same place in our favor and friendship,
which he held previous to his trespass. Now it is
more especially, though not exclusively, in the lat-
ter sense, that we use the word forgiveness in the
present discourse. What we mean to assert is,
that Jesus Christ, not in his judicial character, but
in his private capacity as an individual, will forgive
every penitent, however frequently he may have
trespassed against him. In other words, he will
entertain no feelings of displeasure towards the
penitent offender, will regard him with no coldness,
but will restore him to his favor, and receive him
with as much affection as if he had never offended
him. Not only so, but he will continue to act as
his Saviour and Advocate, and intercede for him,
that he may be forgiven by his Father. This
view of the subject will be found to meet ex-



OF FORGIVENESS. 333

actly the case and the wants of one, who feels con-
scious that he needs forgiveness, but who is asham-
ed or afraid to ask it. Ask such a man the cause
of his guilty fears and apprehensions, and he will
reply, I have sinned against God, I have transgress-
ed his law, and am justly condemned to die. Re-
mind him, that God is ready to forgive every sin-
ner, for whom Christ intercedes, and that Christ is
equally ready to intercede for all who trust in him,
and he will reply, I am ashamed to ask Christ to
intercede for me, I have trespassed against him so
often, have so often been forgiven, and abased his
kindness afresh, and my whole treatment of him
has been such a series of distrust, ingratitude, and
want of affection, that it seems as if it must be im-
possible for him to pardon me again, and as if I
ought not to ask it. But let such a man be con-
vinced that his much injured Saviour has adopted
his own rule with respect to forgiveness, and that
he will receive with unabated kindness every peni-
tent, however numerous his trespasses may be, or
however frequently he may have been previously
forgiven ; I say, let him be convinced of these
truths, and his dfficulties will vanish ; he will again
repent, and again be forgiven. And when he has
thus obtained his injured Saviour's forgiveness, he
will through his intercession obtain forgiveness of
God.

Having thus shewn what is meant by the asser-
tion, that our Saviour regulates his conduct to-
wards his offending people by the rule, which he



334 UNIVERSAL LAW

has given us in the text, and that he is therefore as
ready to forgive, as he requires them to be, — we
proceed,

II. To shew what reason we have for beheving
this assertion. We have reason to beUeve it,

1. Because the relations, which Jesus Christ has
taken upon himself, require that he should regu-
late his conduct by this rule. By assuming our
nature, he has become, in the sense of the text,
our brother. Agreeably, we are informed, that he
is not ashamed to call us brethren. He taught the
same truth, when he said to his disciples, I ascend
unto my Father and to your Father ; for they who
have the same father are brethren. He is also
said to be the first-born among many brethren.
Now if Jesus Christ has condescended to take up-
on himself the relation of a brother to his people,
we may be assured, that he will faithfully perform
all the duties of that relation. He has thus in ef-
fect bound himself to do it. And since he ha&
taught us, that one duty of a brother is to forgive
the trespasses of a penitent brother, however nu-
merous they may be, or however frequently he
may repent, we may be sure, that, if we are peni-
tent, he will forgive our trespasses, though they
should be as numberless as the sands of the sea,
and though they may have been repeated after fre-
quent pardons.

Again — By assuming our nature, Jesus Christ
is become a man. Of course, he has brought him-
self under obligations to obey all the laws and



OF FORGIVENESS. 335

precepts, which God has given to man. Agreeably
we are informed, that, being made of a woman, he
was made under the law ; that is, was made subject
to its authority, and placed under obligations to
obey it. That it was incumbent on him to obey
all other divine precepts, as well as those of the
moral law, appears from the reply which he made
to John the Baptist previous to his baptism. John
had said to him on this occasion, I have need to
be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me ? Jesus
answered. Suffer it to be so now, for thus it be-
cometh us to fulfil all righteousness. As if he had
said, It is incumbent on me to obey every divine
precept, and observe every divine institution, and
since baptism is a divine institution, I must be
baptized. Now if it was incumbent on Jesus Christ,
considered as a man, to obey every divine precept,
it was, of course, incumbent on him to obey those
precepts, which require us to forgive the trespasses
of a penitent brother. And if it was incumbent on
him to regulate his conduct by these precepts, we
may be perfectly sure, that he has done it, and will
do it, since he invariably does what is right.

Once more — When Christ came into this world,
as the Saviour of lost men, he undertook to be
their teacher and guide. As such, it was evidently
proper that he should teach them, not only by pre-
cept, but by example. Accordingly we are told,
that he has left us an example, and that we should
walk in his steps. But if he has set us an example,
it must be in every respect perfect. It must be a



336 UNIVERSAL. LAW

perfect example of forgiveness, as well as of other
duties. And that it may be so, it is necessary, that
he should exhibit the same readiness to forgive,
and to repeat forgiveness, which he requires of us.
If he requires us to forgive a penitent brother,
though he should trespass against us seven times,
or even seventy times seven, he will forgive as
frequently those, who trespass against him ; for it
is impossible to suppose, that in this, or in any
other respect, he will suffer himself to be excelled
by any of his disciples.

2. We have reason to believe that our Saviour
has adopted the rule before us, for the regulation
of his conduct, because he has, in fact, always acted
in conformity with this rule. However frequently
any of his disciples may have trespassed against
him, they have invariably found him more ready to
forgive, than they were to repent. As it respects
yourselves, those of you, who are his disciples,
know, that this has been the case. You know,
that, after you have spent years in grieving and
offending him and wearying his patience in ten
thousand ways, after you have been a thousand
times forgiven, and have then trespassed again ;
after you had treated him with such unkindness,
ingratitude and neglect, as no human friend or
relation could have borne, he has still been just
as ready to forgive you, when penitent, as if you
had never offended him before. And those of you,
who have been his disciples for many years, know
that he has forgiven you more than seventy thous-



OF FORGIVENESS. 337

and times seven trespasses. You have therefore
ample reason to beUeve, and all his disciples have
similar reasons for believing, that he regulates his
conduct, in this respect, by the rule under consid-
eration.

In passing to a practical improvement of what
has been said, permit me to remark, that I am
well aware of the manner, in which those, who are
disposed to convert the bread of life into poison,
may abuse this subject. I am aware, that, from
the Saviour's readiness to forgive those who tres-
pass against him, they may draw encouragement
to repeat their trespasses. Such men there were
in the days of the apostles ; men, who turned the
grace of God into wantonness, and continued in
sin, because grace abounded. But the apostles
did not therefore conceal the grace of God, neither
should we. We are not to conceal truths, which
will be beneficial to Christ's real disciples, because
his enemies may abuse them. And none but his
enemies will abuse the truth which has now been
exhibited. To all his real friends it will, if behev-
ed, prove most salutary. Nothing tends more
powerfully to melt their hearts, to make them
ashamed of their sins, to bring them to deep re-
pentance, and to increase their confidence in the
Saviour, than just views of his readiness to forgive,
and to renew his forgiveness, as often as they
renew their trespasses. Such views I have now
endeavored, my christian friends, to give you.

In improving what has been said, allow me to
43



338 UNIVERSAL LAW

place before you the Saviour as he appears in the
light of this subject. See him adorned with every
possible excellence and perfection, uttering the
kindest invitations, and bestowing freely the richest
blessings ; blessings, which cost him labors, priva-
tions, and sufferings, the greatness of which we
can never estimate. See him, in return for these
blessings, treated with the most cruel unkindness,
ingratitude and neglect ; wounded in the house of
his friends by those, who have eaten at his table, and
trespassed against, on every side, by multitudes in
ten thousand ways. See him still forgiving all these
trespasses, repeating his forgiveness a thousand and
ten thousand times, maintaining, as it were, a con-
test with his people, which shall exceed, they in
trespassing, or he in pardoning. See him invaria-
bly gaining the victory in this strange contest, and
constraining each of his disciples in turn to exclaim,
O, who is equal, or like to thee, in forgiving iniqui-
ty, transgression and sin ! Christian, can you
contemplate the spectacle without emotion ? Does
it excite no shame or sorrow in your bosom ? Does
it not cause your heart to glow with admiration,
and gratitude, and love to your Saviour, and with
indignation against yourself? And does it not, at
the same time, inspire you with confidence to come
and seek forgiveness afresh ? You expect soon to
approach your Master's table. And you will surely
wish to meet with a kind reception. You surely
will not wish to come borne down with guilty
fears, and harassed by jealousies, doubts and sus-



OF FORGIVENESS. 339

picions. Believe what you have now heard, and
your wishes will be gratified. Believe what you
have heard, and you will repent, you will be for-
given, there will be peace between you and your
Saviour, and you will approach his table with con-
fidence. Let no one say, I have already been
forgiven so often, that I dare not, cannot ask for-
giveness again. Let no one offend his Saviour by
suspecting, that he is less ready to forgive than he
requires us to be. It is a false humility, or rather
it is concealed pride and unbelief, which prevents
us from asking forgiveness and leads us to say, I
am too unworthy to be forgiven. O then, my breth-
ren, indulge not these feelings, but rather turn at
once, to Christ, receive his forgiveness, and love
much, because much is forgiven. And while you
receive your pardon, remember what it cost him to
procure it. Remember, that it is wet with his own
blood, and let it be wet with your tears, tears of
deep contrition and repentance.

2. , If Christ is so ready to forgive every penitent
offender, then nothing can prevent any offender
from obtaining forgiveness, but his own refusal to
repent. And, O, how great will be the guilt, how
terrible, and yet how just, the punishment of every
one who fails to obtain forgiveness. The guilt of
such a man will be in exact proportion to the
greatness of the mercy, against which he has sin-
ned. But there can be no mercy greater than that
which Christ displays. Consequently, there can
be no guilt greater than that of those, who sin



340 UNIVERSAL LAW

against this mercy. My impenitent hearers, cease,
O cease, I beseech you, to incur this aggravated
guilt. If you repent, you will find the Saviour no
less ready to forgive you, than he is to forgive his
penitent disciples. His language to you is, though
you may have not only trespassed, but sinned wil-
fully against me a thousand, and ten thousand
times ; though you ma,y have spent many years in
neglecting and offending me, yet I am still ready
to forgive you ; I wish to forgive you, but I must
not, I cannot forgive any, who refuse to repent.
My hearers, how is it possible that any man can
retain a good opinion of himself, or refrain from
despising himself, while conscious that he is insen-
sible to such goodness ; that he is not affected by
the invitations of a Saviour so ready to forgive ;
that he is refusing to accept of forgiveness and
salvation on terms so reasonable, so easy ? How
is it possible, that he should not say to himself,
surely I must be devoid of all sensibility ; I must
be a stranger to every ingenuous feehng ; I must
be incapable of gratitude ; I must have a heart of
stone, or I could not hear, without emotion, of
goodness so unbounded, or refuse to seek forgive-
ness, when it is offered on terms like these. My
hearers, will any of you, can any of you, persist in
refusing to comply with these terms ! Will you
leave this house unpardoned, when the Saviour is
present and ready to forgive, in a moment, every
one, who will return to him, saying from the heart,
Lord, I repent. It should seem impossible, that



OF FORGIVENESS. 341

any one can choose to go away unpardoned, rather
than comply with these terms ; and yet it is but too
probable, that many will do it. What is still worse,
it is but too probable, that some will take encour-
agement from the Saviour's mercy to delay repen-
tance, and repeat their trespasses with hopes of
impunity. But if any are tempted to do this, let
them recollect, that our Saviour cannot regulate
his conduct by the rule before us, at his second
coming. At his first appearing, he came, not as a
judge, but as a Saviour ; and it was proper that,
in this character, he should display unbounded
readiness to forgive. But at his second appearing,
he will come, not as a Saviour, but as a judge ;
and in that character, he will be constrained to
proceed according to the strict rules of justice.
Those, therefore, who now refuse mercy, will then
have judgment without mercy. O, then, seek the
Lord, while he may be found ; call ye upon him,
while he is near. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and ye perish from the way, and sink to that world,
where the sound of pardon will never break in
upon the wailings of despair.



342 FRAUD EXPOSED



SERMOX XVIII.

FRAUD EXPOSED AND CONDEMNED.
PROVERBS, XX. 14.

IT IS NAUGHT, IT IS NAUGHT, SAITH THE BUYER: BUT WHEN HE IS GONE
HIS WAY, THEN HE BOASTETH.

It is impossible to peruse the scriptur^/atten-
tively, without finding, in ahiiost every pbge, the
most convincing proofs, that, since the fall, human
nature has ever been the same ; that the men of
former ages strikingly resembled, in character and
conduct, the present inhabitants of the world.
How exactly, for instance, does the remark of the
wise man in our text correspond with what is still
daily witnessed in the commercial intercourse be-
tween man and man. He is here describing the
means, which were, in his day, employed by a
dishonest buyer to procure the articles, which he
wished to purchase, for less than their real worth.
He represents him as, with this view, exaggerating
their defects, and pretending that they are worth-
less. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer ; —