cated evil of sin. Is the sinner described as all over defiled and loathsome with hateful impurity? his pardon is denoted by the perfect cleansing of his person, and by the covering of all his filth, Psal. xiv. 3. xxxii. 1. and lxxxv. 2. 1 John i. 7. Rev. i. 5. Is he compared to a wretched insolvent, and his offences to a debt of ten thousand talents? his pardon is represented by a blotting out of the debt, or by a non-imputation of it, Psal. xxxii. 2. and li. 1, 9. Matt. xviii. 24. Is he likened to a person who labours under the weight of a heavy burden, that galls his shoulders, and sinks his spirits? his forgiveness is represented by lifting up, and by removing the painful incumbrance, Psal. xxxviii. 4. and xxxii. 1. Matt. xi. 28. Are his transgressions for their nature, number, and effects, represented by clouds; black, lowering, low-hung clouds, that are just ready to burst in a storm, and deluge the country? his pardon is described by their total abo lition, by blotting them out from the face of heaven, so that no trace of them shall be found, nor any mortal be able to tell what is become of them, Isa. xliv. 22. Is disobedience to the divine law pronounced rebellion against the Majesty of heaven, and the sinner considered as a convict under sentence of death? forgiveness consists in reversing the sentence, and in remitting the penalty due to his crimes. Under this consideration, which is the proper notion of pardon, the language of a gracious God is, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom. The Lord is pleased to represent the same individual blessing, by casting our sins behind his back; by casting them into the depths of the sea; by removing them as far from us as the

east is from the west; by remembering them no more; and by making scarlet and crimson offences white as wool, yea, whiter than snow.

In this forgiveness Grace reigns, and the riches of Grace are displayed. It is an absolutely perfect pardon; and to make it so, three things are required. It must be full, free, and everlasting. That is, it must extend to all sin; it must be vouchsafed without any conditions to be performed by the sinner; and it must be absolutety irreversible. But these things deserve a more; particular consideration.

That forgiveness which is equal to the wants of a sinner must be full-including all sins, be they ever so numerous-extending to all their aggravations be they ever so enormous. Every sin being a transgression of divine law, and every transgression subjecting the offender to a dreadful curse; if the guilt of every sin be not removed, if the penalty due to every sin be not remitted, the curse must fall upon us, and wrath must be our portion. Hence appears the necessity of a full pardon in order to happiness. And as it is essentially necessary, so it is granted. The scriptures declare, that when our offended Sovereign pardons any of the human race, he forgives all their sins. For, says the King, whose name is the LORD OF HOSTS, I will cleanse them from ALL their iniquities whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon ALL their iniquities whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. Delightful declaration! To forgive sin is a divine prerogative. None can dispense the unspeakable favour but God. This he declares he will do: and that he will

not only forgive some sins, or a few, but all; all entirely.

Let us hear another ambassador from the court of heaven. The Prophet Micah, when speaking of the King Eternal, with an air of thanksgiving and of joy declares, He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities: and thou wilt cast ALL their sins into the depths of the sea. He will turn again; not as an incensed adversary, to execute vengeance, but as a friend and a father, to manifest his grace. Beholding with pity our miserable condition and helpless circumstances. He will have compassion upon us; He will relieve our distress, and richly supply all our various wants. As disobedience is the cause of all our misery, and that abominable thing which he detests, He will subdue our stubborn iniquities; he will remove their guilt by atoning blood, and annul their dominion by victorious grace. And, as a farther expression of pardoning love, Thou wilt cast, not a few or the greater part only, but ALL their sins into the depths of the sea. Their sins, as a burden too heavy to bear, as an object too hateful for Thee to behold, thou wilt for ever remove from them, for ever cast out of thy sight. Here the fulness and perpetuity of divine forgiveness are expressed with all the force of language. Another infallible writer expresses the glorious truth, and celebrates the ineffable blessing, in language of exultation. To here his words is delightful; to partake in his joy is transporting. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name-Who forgiveth ALL thine iniquities, who healeath ALL thy diseases. Such is

his language, and such the ground of his exuberant joy; and a solid foundation it is for incessant thanksgiving. For when, and to whomsoever, God pardoneth sin, he so forgives it, that as to the eye of his vindictive justice, he sees it no more; there is none to be found that can be charged upon them, Numb. xxiii. 21. Jer. 1. 20. Rom. viii. 33. Hence there is no condemnation to such persons.

This forgiveness is worthy of God, and suitable to the chief of sinners. Proceeding from sovereign grace, it reaches the foulest crimes and the most abominable transgressions. By this gracious pardon, scarlet and crimson sins are made white as wool, yea, whiter than snow. The bloody sins of Manasseh, the madness of rage in a persecuting Saul; the bitter taunts of the thief against the Son of God, when both were in there expiring moments; and the sin of crucifying the Lord of glory; these, all these, with there various and horrid aggravations, have been pardoned. These, though inconceivably heinous, and some of them such as were never committed, either before or since, have been forgiven by a gracious God. The blood of Christ is possessed of infinite energy, arising from the superlative dignity of him who shed it, and is able to cleanse from all sin. From each sin, be it ever so heinous; from all sins, be they ever so numerous. Thus Grace, like a mighty and compassionate monarch, passes an act of oblivion on millions and millions of the most aggravated offences and complicated crimes.

Did the most abandoned profligates know what forgiveness there is with God, they would no longer be held by the devil under that injurious persuasion

110

and fatal snare-There is no hope. Nor would they form the rash conclusion-We have loved strangers. and after them will we go. Jer. ii. 25. JEHOVAH is the God of pardon. This is his name, and this is his glory. Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. Neh. ix. 17. For thus said the Lord, I will pardon all their iniquities-and it shall be to me a NAME OF JOY, A PRAISE. and an honour, before all the nations of the earth, and all the angels in heaven; which shall hear of all the superlative good that I do unto them. Jer. xxxiii. 8, 9. Astonishing words! The Sovereign of all worlds seems to glory in pardoning mercy, as one of the brightest jewels in his own eternal crown. Well, therefore, might the church cry out in a transport of joy, Who is a God like unto thee? that pardoneth iniquity of the most complicated and shocking kind, and passeth by, with the utmost readiness, the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever; and the glorious reason is, a reason which ought never to be forgotten, because he DELIGHTED in mercy. Mic. vii. 18.

Come, then, poor trembling sinner! though conscious that the number and magnitude of your sins, are inexpressibly great; come, let us reason together, and contemplate the riches of grace. What though you are by nature an apostate creature and a child of wrath; though you have, by innumerable transgressions, violated the law of God and incurred its everlasting curse-Though you are grown hoary in rebellion against your divine Sovereign, and look upon yourself as a monster of iniquityThough your sins of heart, of lip, and life; sins of omission and sins of commission; sins of ignorance