^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ .^. 7. % 1.0 1.1 UIM |Z5 ■JO ^^" ■■■ m u 140 IE P'iji^li^ ^ 6" — ^ ^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporalion 19 WIIT MAIN ITRHT WfUTH.N.Y. MStO (71*) 173-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Inttituta for Historical IMicroraproductiona / Institut Canadian da microraproductiona hiatoriquas Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast original copy availabia for filming. Faaturas of this copy which may ba bibliographically unique, which may altar any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D n D D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagte Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurta at/ou pellicuMe r~n Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque I I Coloured maps/ D Cartes giographiques 9n couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations an couleur Bound with other material/ ReliA avac d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within tha text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutias lors d'une restauration apparaissant dans la taxte. mais, lorsqua cala itait possible, ces pages n'ont pas «t4 film«es. Additional comments:/ Commentairas supplimantairas; L'Institut a microfilm^ le maillaur axemplaire qu'il lui a it6 possible da sa procurer. Las details da cat axemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographiqua. qui pauvent modifier une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent axiger una modification dans la mithoda normala de filmaga sont indiqute ci-dessous. □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagAas □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^as et/ou pelliculAes yi Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^color^es, tachetias ou piqu6es I I Pages detached/ D Pages ditachias Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of prir Qualiti inigala de I'imprassion Includes supplementary matarii Comprend du material supplimantaira Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible r~] Showthrough/ I I Quality of print varies/ I I Includes supplementary material/ rn Only edition available/ Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmad to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiallement obscurcias par un fauiilet d'errata, une palure, etc., ont M filmies A nouveau da fapon A obtanir la mailleure image possible. Th to Th po of fiir Orl ba< th( sic oti fin sic or Th sh< T» wh Ml dif en] be rig rei m( This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X SOX y 12X itx aox a4x 28X 32X The copy filmed here hes been reproduced thenke to the generoeity of: Dougles Librery Queen's University L'exempieire film* fut reproduit grice A la gAnArositA de: Dougles Library Queen's University The imeges appeering here are the best quelity possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated Impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other originel copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrsted impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Lee Images suivantee ont AtA reproduites avec le plus grend soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet* de l'exempieire filmA, et en conformity evec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Les exemplaires orlginaux dont la couverture en papier est imprlmte sent filmAs en commen^ent par le premier plet et en terminant soit par la derniire page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'lllustration, soit par ie second plat, salon le ces. Tous les eutres exemplaires orlginaux sont fllmte en commen^ent par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminent par la dernlAre pege qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded freme on each microfiche shell contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboiss suivar«ts apparaftra sur la dernlAre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le ces: le symbols -4k> signifie "A SUIVRE", le eymbole V signifie "FIN ". IMaps, plates, charts, etc., may l>e filmed et different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure ere filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff Arents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour Atre reproduit en un seul cllchA, 11 est f iimi A psrtir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche i droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'Images nicessaire. Les diegrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. t s 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 M^e THE DIVINE LOVE, AND THE DIVINE FORGIVENESS, ILLUSTRATED, IN TWO SERMONS. BY THE REV. R. B. WIGGINS, A. iV. i SAINT JOHN, N. B. PRINTED UV HENRY CHUBB 4 COMPANT, I'niN' B WII.LIAM-STHKKT IH5I In presenting these and kindred sentiments to the public, I do not profess to impart views of Divine Truth which. are peculiarly my own ; but which have influenced some of the wisest and most intel- ligent minds in the Christian world, for the last half century. These sentiments are now, indeed, coming more prominently forward, as the intelligence of the age is able to receive and approve of them. Nor are they speculative, or based upon any mere human system of interpretation, but solely the result of a close study of the Word of God, in accordance with the letter of the word, and the spiritual sense thereof, as sew by comparing 0Q« part of the Scripture with other and similar passages. The doctrine taught is therefore one, and the tendency of it is to make all one, according to the prayer of Him whom we worship as God and Man in Orte Person, I THE DIVINE LOVE. \st John, iv., part of Sth verse. — For God is Love. do not irly my st intel- These vard, as af them, ystem of Word of ual sense Lth other , and the : of Him Love is that principle which can exist only by seeking to benefit and bless othersi It is diffusive in its nature ; and can find its hap- piness only in imparting happiness ; and this happiness will be more or less extensively felt, in proportion to the nature and quality of the Love itself. In the natural man, this love is natural ; in the spiri- tual or regenerated man, it becomes spiritual or Heavenly love in the soul ; and in Heaven itself, it is angelic love, or that blessed princi- ple of oneness, where each soul freely sympathizes with the happi- ness of all the rest. But, these are only the streams from the Infinite fountain : these all receive according to their measure and capacity ; and can impart only what they receive. But Love itself is boundless and eternal ; and in the proper sense of the word, exists only in the bosom of God. It is there infinite and unwearied Love, and goes out of itself to the utmost bounds of the creation. God hateth nothing that he has made, and He willeth not the death of a sinner ; for God is Love. If we can then ascertain what is Love, we shali be able to discern the nature of God, Consider this Love on the lowest level of human life ; as it exists in the heart of every being called human. The human heart is as wide as its sympathies^ and these sympathies are as wide as the world ; for the human heart loves its own, and its sphere reaches as far as home and kindred can be found. When the child is recreant to parental love, still, in his wayward- ness, and in his errors, he is not neglected, nor cast off. Even when he abandons fond home, and spurns all the accents of endearing kindness, thoughts from home still follow him wherever he goes ; blessings are wafted for him on the very winds ; deep affections hover over him in his dreams; in the midnight storm, the heart starts for him in its sleep ; and when the soft wind blows, the hopes of his re- intu come over the spirit like gentle messengers from a distant land. /^ /fs ? i And when he comes to himself; oh! when the illusion is scallcred, when the spell is dissolved ; when his wandering feet slowly seek his native home — is there no love for him there ? Are there no yearning hearts to welcome him to the blest abode of his childhood, where he once lived full of dreams and hopes ; and where every vi- sible thing is covered all over with the golden hues of memory ? Say, are there no trembling hearts that have counted the years of his absence ; and are not their feelings too full for utterance ? Words are wanting to express even this human love, and the outburst of tho /leart puts all human language to flight. If this be the sphere of mere natural love, of that love which is instinctive in all who claim to be human ; how wide and diiTusivo is the sphere of spiritual love, of that love which extends into eternity, and yearns for the best interests of the immortal part of man ! This is the love felt, by the regenerated man, for his friends and kindred ; nay, even for his enemies and persecutors ! His love cannot bo li- mited to earth, for the spliere of his afTections extends into Heaven, and partakes of the sympathies and affections of that bright world, All earthly things and earthly uses he regards as the means of higher influences ; and he fills them all with heavenly life and feelings. His sphere extends through this world, and into the next too ; and ho looks upon the human family as one vast brotherhood, to be bene- fitted and blessed both here and hereafter ! The wider this feeling of spiritual love, the more diffusive is his own happiness, till he feels the answering response from Heaven, and hears, as it were, the breath- ing of heavenly accents, — Freely ye have received, freely give : it is more blessed to give than to receive. There is joy in Heaven over every sinner that repenteth. It is reserved for the next world, to see the full exercise of this blessed principle, to know what it is to hear the response of angelic voices, and to see and fed the kindling love of angelic faces ! Think of a society where the happiness of each is the happiness of all, and where all conspire to the happiness of each ; where each of these so- cieties is only the member of a larger circle ; and this larger circle is only one among others that fill the boundless realms of Heaven ! The happiness there, you see, is in proportion to the love ; to (ho diffusiveness of the Heavenly principle ; to the wide-spread benevo- lence that reigns in that blessed world. Such is spiritual love as it exists dimly upon earth, and as it is fully realized in Heaven ; till it kindles up in the fire of tho seraph, and glows and buins in tjic face of the Archangel ! lie cuij* '«- 5 not be satisfied, except with the widest and most diffusive lave; his sphere extends from circle to circle of the Heavenly societies ; he im- bibes more vividly than others the spirit of Heavenly love, and sees therefore deeper into the plans of Heavenly wisdom. , But this love, after all, isfnite; and though continually increasing for ever, it will for ever remain finite ! Between it and the infinite, ' the distance will ever be infinite. What then must be the Infinite love — the love of God ? It is exhaustless, unwearied, and eternal love ; utterly incomprehensible to the finite mind ; it is the name of God Himself— -;/br God is Love ! To conceive of this lofoe, even remotely, we must consider it un- der the emblem by which it is represented to us in the Holy Scrip- tures, — that of the visible and material Sun. This earth, as we learn from science, was bom of the Sun, was created in the order of Providence, by means of emanations from that source ; and all the dwellers on the earth are kept alive by the light and heat which now proceed from that fountain of life ! The rays of the sun are ever streaming forth to benefit and bless all who dwell upon earth; and it warms and blesses each, as if each were the only dweller upon the earth's surface ! It is untiring too in its genial exercise, and new every morning ! Nothing can restrain its influence, for it is created to shine upon all, even wpow the evil and the unthaiikful. Here is an emblem of the hve of God — for God is Love. God is the Sun of the Moral World. He shines upon all with the blessed light and warmth of His Divine Providence. In all ages has He saved the souls of men ; and yet His mercy is as free, and His bounty as exhaustless, as if no one had yet been blessed by His cheering Love. Innumerable multitudes have been ransomed from sin and sorrow, and the means are at hand for multitudes more ! Heaven has already received its myriads from earth ; the saints of all ages have gone to their home ; and yet the love of God seems wider and wider than ever! There is no limit to His mercy ; and no bounds to His Love. But, it may be asked — ^and is, indeed, often asked, — if the love of God is thus infinite, why are any of His creatures unhappy ? whence come the misery and disquietude on earth ? nay, whence are the tor- ments of Hell ? Now, it is usual to meet this objection by a reference to what is termed the justice of God. But still the question arises, how is it possible that even the justice of God should consign men to eccrlasi- ing torments ? > . ,. (;, 'k'-t 6 !.l ) We meet this question on very difTerent grounds. We do not talk merely of the justice of God in: the punishment c^ ike sinner ; but of the love of God too^ The ju^ice of God is pure love^ and nothing else, for there is nothing arbitrary or vindictive in the character of Crod. God is IrOO«, infinite and unwearied love ; and all the misery ' ,- ^. > • . > And this ia Ime » The m«cy of God is shewn, not in passotg hy thie d^oaands of His own Laws, but in faotioging the sinner into SKi^ection to these Lawsw Mercy is not a change in God, but a change in man ; and the Lpm of Gtid to the sismer is shown, not in the jnet» pardon. <^ sin, bat in deHserttMie firom it ! An act of m- w^ieae mercy, as mtn deem mercy, is utterly impossible on tbe part of God ; for if the mercy of God could save man, without reference to the condition of man himself, all men would necessarily be saved ; for God is infinitely merciful, and wlkth not the death of a sinner. .$ His wUl is to save all but all men are not willins' to be saved! 1 1 III men to submit to those laws, by which God is sur- and God cannot go out of those laws, without denying They are not rounded ; Himself ! You see this exemplified in the laws of the natural world, for these Laws are the laws of God, as much as the laws of the moral world are. He who wrote the Book of Nature, wrote also the Book of Revelation. They are both indeed equally the Revelations of God ; and Love, and Love only, is inscribed on all their pages! For instance : it is a Law, of the moral world, that light is light, and that it is not darkness ; and it is equally a law that good is good, and that it is not evil. Now these are the laws of God ; and for God to change these Laws would be to deny Himself! If God were to put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; evil for good, and good for evil, there would be an end to His Love ; and this toatdd be the case, if he were to save a sinner by an act of immediate mercy, without reference to the change in the habits and the dispositions of the sin* ner ! If such a sinner were to be taken to Heaven, he would inar the very happiness of that bright world ; and his own torments would be a thousandfold greater there, than they could be in the deepest and darkest Hell ! It would be an arbitrary ant on the part of God ; it would be the denial of Himself, and the violation of all His Laws. God never departs from these Laws, even in the natural world. It is a law, there^ for instance, that fire should bum, and that ice should chill or freeze the body ; and there is no exemption from this law ; but the Love of God is ^own in giving the body sensibility to heat and cold, by which the danger of being burned or frozen may be avoided ! These instincts are perfect, in adaptation to these laws ; and without this deep sensibility to pain, the body would be con- tinually liable to perish, either from heat or cold. By these laws, which are the laws of Love, and therefore the laws of God, man is the arbiter of his own destiny. He may do good, or he may do evil ! He may go to Heaven, or he may go to Hell ! But, in either case, it is the life of his choice. In the one case, he receives the Love of God into his will, and yields a ready assent to His Laws ; in the other case, he resists the Laws of Divine order ; he puts evil for good, and good for evil ; darkness for light, and light for darkness. If a man die in this latter state, nothing ca^ save him ; he has blotted the word "mercy" out of the Universe; and he can never hear ^^i word any more ! i be saved ! od is sur- dcnying d, for these )ral world ! Book of s of God ; t is light, >d is good, id for God rere io put i good for 3 the case, , without )f the sin- ould inar nts would e deepest t of God; rlis Laws. 'ol world. I that ice from this sibility to )zen may ese laws ; d be con- the laws good, or to Hell! ! case, he assent to le order; and light ave him ; d he can But he has not blotted the Love of God out of the Universe : the Love of God remains unchangeable, though it comes to the sinner only in the form of wrath and anguish ! He may charge God with his punishment, and even think that God, if he chose, might deliver him from it ; but, this is merely the blindness and infatuation of sin that shuts his eyes from seeing the Love of God that is putting a restraint upon his sinful passions ! If you go down to Hell, God is there; His Love is there in governing and quelling the rage of Devils against each other, and in leading them from the more grievous, to the light- er degrees of punishment. The wrath is not in God, but in them ; they have perverted His Love, and thus changed it into its opposite, till they can no longer see Him as He is, but only as a Being of wrath and anger. These views of the Divine Being, as a Being of Love, are clearly seen in all His dispensations. Is He not kind to the evil and the unthankful ? Does He not send His rain upon the just and the un- just t Is not life a continued succession of blessings ; and does He not crown man with mercies and loving kindnesses ? Every thing is so arranged, in the orderly course of His Providence, as to give plea- sure instead of pain; and pain itself, when this order is violated, is the merciful arrangement to prevent a greater and more alarming evil ! And is it even possible, that a Being who so loves His creatures to-day, that He — an unchangeable Being — can hate them to-morrow ? No ; it is not even possible ! " God willeth not the death of a sinner ; and hateth nothing that He has made." Men choose their own lot, for good or evil, and if they prefer evil here, they wiU continue to prefer it hereafter. The condemnation thus becomes a present con- demnation ; this is the condemnation that light is come into the world; and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were eviL It is a law of their being to do what they love to do ; and the love of evil is the essential element of all misery, because it opposes the love of God. From these reflections on the Love of God, we see the awful de- pravity and degradation of resisting that love ; of spurning the offers of salvation ; and remaining the willing enemies of Him, who seeks to save the lost. Only think of that Love— of the infinite, unwearied, and eternal Love of God ; — a love, so vast, that no finite Being shall ever be able to comprehend it ; shall ever know its height and length, and depth and breadth, throughout everlasting ages ! To see this love in its highest influence, we must see it, as it is mani- fested in person. We may dwell upon the love of God, as it exists in ( I' 10 the Infinite Fountain of the Deity, for ever inconceivable to aircreated Beings ; and we may think of it, also, as it descended before the in- carnation, in the form of an Angel, to come to the knowledge and perception of Angels; but, to feel its power, and to be warmed by its holy fire, we must see God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a faithful saying, and uoortky of aU acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Are you a sinner? Then you are the ol^ect of His Love ; to you the Gospel is address- ed ; it is good news and glad tidings to the sinner : Come unto me all ye thai are weary, and heavy laden, and 1 will give you. rest. And him that cometh unto me, Ivnll, in tio vnse, cast out. But, hou) are we to come ? Gome as they came of old : follow Him, in the path He trode. Be His disciples indeed, and not in word only. It is the heart service he requires ; and not the mere homage of the lips. It is not the mere opinions, not the act of the mind alone, that can enable you to come to Jesus ! An intelligent belief is indeed essential ; it is quite necessary to know that Jesus is the Saviour ; that He is the Lord ; and the only Saviour and Redeemer of lost man. But, the thing actually required, is the belief in Him with the heart. There must be a feeling sense of His Power, and of His Love ; a consciousness that He is not only able, but willing to save ; nay, that He is not only vnlling to save, but that He loves to save. He is Jesus, the Saviour ; He is the Infinite love of God, in the human person. You can come to Him ; but, you can come to God in no other way. There is no other manifestation of the absolute Deity ; of the incom- prehensible Father ! No man cometh unto the Father, He says, hit by me. No one hath seen Crod at any time ; the ordy begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. In this way, men may approach God ; but, in no other way, can He be ap- proached by men or Angels. But, how can we come, even to the Saviour ? He is in Heaven, and we are upon earth. They of old came to Him in person ; they were conscious of His presence, and relied on His power; and they left all and followed Him. So may you be conscious of His presence, in a higher sense, than they ever were ! They had doubts ; you need have none. He is no longer neglected and despised on earth ; nor hanging on the cross ; nor laid in the Tomb, where their hopes, for the time, were laid ; but. He is risen from the dead ; He has ascended into Heaven ; and all power is given to Him as the Redeemer of sin- ners. He is the medium of access with the Invisible God ; the visi- 11 ircreated e the in- idge and ed by its s Christ, at Jesus sinner ? address- to me all t. And follow in word homage id alone, s indeed Javiour ; ost man. le Juart. -. tV -WJ.-'-, - '>iv= ) THE DIVINE FOBGIVENES& ' ' .■. i s I J. (■ I !f Psdm cxxx. 4 — But, there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou MAYEST BE FEARED. We have considered the Love of God, generally, in its abstract na* ture, in the preceding discourse ; and we now proceed to consider it more particularly in its manifestations. This Love is ever going forth, in ceaseless activity, to benefit and bless ; and it must, there- fore, have objects on which to bestow its care. In this world, its ob* jects are sinners ; and with reference to them, God's Love is called forgivBTUsSj and it thus becomes adapted to the case of those who are still in a state of opposition to His Laws, there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared. We have seen that the character of God is that of Love ; that Love is the very essence of His nature ; and that this Love is, ne* cessarily, Infinite ! We have seen, also, tliat this Love is full of wisdom ; that it ia not an unmeaning attribute ; but that it is regulated and controlled by n knowledge that cannot err. Hence this Love is directed to« wards the happiness of all God's creatures. We have seen, also, that though God is all love, and that Love« guided by infinite wisdom, yet that all His creatures are not made happy ; there is evidently much misery in this world, and there is a world beyond the grave, where misery reigns supreme. We have seen, further, that this state of things is not only consist* ent with the Divine Love, but that it is the necessary consequence of that Love. If there were no Laws of God which made the wicked miserable, and made the good happy, there could be neither justice nor mercy in God. If sin did not entail its own punishment, the Laws of God would not be able to vindicate themselves ; and then He would cease to be a God of Love, for all His Laws are the Laws of Love. These Laws denounce all sin, and declare an eternal se- paration between God and the impenitent sinner. Here, then, opens upon us in full view the nature of God's forgive- ce£s, i. e., the mercy of God to be penitent ; there in forgiveness with so TAce, that Thou mayest be feared ; and this forgiveness is extended to man over the whole length and breadth of his probationary exis- tence. God's l&ee to man existed not only before man sinned, but after he had sinned. It is not because man has sinned that the Love of God has allowed him to sin on ; nay, his very sins rendered him a more distinct object of this Love. The Love that created man came forth in due time also to redeem him ; it came to seek and to save him when lost ; and it was manifested to the sinner as it could not have been manifested to him before he sinned. This Love is shewn in \\a forgiving nature ; and if you would loiow what forgive- ness is, you must feel it under an humbling sense of your utter un- worthiness in the sight of God, and of a native hostility to his Laws, A deep contrition for sin, under these circumstances, ensures the forgiveness of sin ; and herein is its power to redeem the sinner. There is a power in the forgiveness of sin which destroys sin : it is the sense of God's deep Love touching the soul that begets love in return. We Ume Him because He first loved us. : " Here, too, the ground of forgiveness is seen ; forgiveness springs from the Infinite Love of God, and can be realized only in the way of true obedience to His will. This forgiveness is absolute ; it is free ; it claims no ccmipensation for the past ; it asks only the future and willing homage of the heart. This is the end and design of all forgiveness ; and hence reperUance is the only ground of pardon ; there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared, — that is, that Thou mayest be loved and obeyed. This great truth is promi.iont in every part of the Old Testament. In the xviii of Ezekiel, it is declared from the beginning to the end : when the wicked man iurneth away from his wickedness which he hath committed, and doeth tliat which is laivful and right, he shall save his soul alive. In Joel : Rend your hearts a-nd not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciftd, long suffering and of great kindness, and repenteth Him of the evil. In Daniel : To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness though tve have rebelled against Him, neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord oy,r God to walk in tli« pat/is which He set before us. In the Psalms : Hide thy face from my si7ts, aiid Idot out all mine iniquities. And so on, throughout the old Testament. The same great truth is taught in the New Testament, by the Lord in Person. He says, forgive ns ye hope to be forgiven ; forgive your Brother, on repentance, seven times a day, nay, seventy times seven. The same is taught in the Parable of tlie tulenta, — the Lord i il 14 forgiving the ten thousand talents, because man had nothing to pay with, and enforcing forgiveness by man of the hundred pence on this very principle. The Prodigal Son is another instance of Divine for- giveness. Be merciful is the great lesson. Be merciful^ as yofur Father in Heaven is merciful^ for Jte is kind to the evil and the un- thankful. If Thou shonddest be extreme to mark what is done amiss O Lord, who may abide it ? But there is forgiveness toith Thee that Thou mayest be feared. The ground of this forgiveness, I repeat it, is the infinite mercy of God ; and the design of it is to restore man to His favour. All is forgiven and forgotten upon repentance. " It is His nature and pro- perty always to have mercy and to forgive." God is a kind Parent, and His Love consists in making his children happy ; and if they de- part from Him, His Love requires not their punishment, but their re- turn. They are miserable when they depart from Him, and He fol- lows them down to their lost estate. His very justice j too, as well as His mercy, is concerned in saving them — if they are willing to be saved. Suppose your child rebels against your authority, and incurs your displeasure ? Is there no compassion felt for his sufferings ? Do you not seek to win him back to obedience ? And what do you call this feehng on your part ? Is it mercy or compassion only, or is it simple justice to the child, to recall him, if possible, from his wanderings ? And is man more just, or merciful, than God ? It is, therefore, justice, as well as mercy in God, to foi^ive sins upon re- pentance. Here mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and grace kiss each other. We have so long obscured this great truth, that it is difficult now to place it in simple day-light. God has been so long clothed with vindictive passions, that we are accustomed to think of Him as arbi- trary and severe ; nay, to consider Him less merciful than He teaches us to be. For instance : The Lord requires us to forgive others who have offended us ; not to impute sins to them, if they are penitent ; not any longer to charge them with the guilt of sins, which they no longer commit ; to be merciful unto them and to love them, though they have violated the Laws of Love ; to be willing and ready to forgive and forget, when they are willing to change their conduct. This is the teaching of the Gospel as regards forgiveness by man ; and we all recognize this teaching as the Truth of the Gospel in his case. But, wc place limitations on the mercy of the Almighty ; wc !My that he caimot forgive sins on mere repentance ; we declare that othing to pay pence on this »f Divine for- ' filly as your and the un- sdone amiss ith Thee that lite mercy of vour. Ail is ture and pro- kind Parent, d if they de- but their re- , and He fol- 50, as well as grilling to be r, and incurs sufferings ? what do you n only, or is le, from his '^odi ? It is, iins upon re- eousness and lifficult now slothed with {im as arbi- He teaches •s who have nitent; not ;h they no em, though d ready to sir conduct. Bs by man ; >8pel in his lighty ; wc leclarc that His justice must be satisfied before He can shew mercy ; and that the whole debt must be paid before the debt can be forgiven! There is no mercy at all in this ; there is no forgiveness in the case ; the truth of the text is wholly denied — there is (no) forgiveness with God that He may be feared. How came such a denial ever to prevail among men ? How came they to deny the Divine forgiveness, when it is so clearly and une- quivocally expressed in Holy Scripture ? They denied it, in virtue of their character as yoZ^era beings. In this character, they considered that God would demand satisfaction for their sins, as they demanded satisfaction for the offences of others against them. And they were allowed to consider this as the real character of God, being in the lowest natural state themselves, and incapable of being governed by any higher Law. Hence under the Jewish dispensation they were taught to demand satisfaction from each other for all injuries and wrongs done to them ; eye for eye, tooth for tooth, stripe for stripe, blood for blood. Thau, shdtt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. They were thus taught, and could be taught in no other way, that God would demand full satisfaction for their offences against Him. They considered God such an one as themselves, and He dealt with them accordingly. On this principle there was no forgiveness with God, and no mercy could be shown to the offender till full satisfac' tion had been made for the sins committed. Hence, they considered sacrifices as vicarious, that is, that the victim offered actually stood in the place of the offender, and they were allowed to have this view of animal sacrifices, as they Avere also allowed, and were commanded, to retaliate for injuries done to them ; while, in both cases, the end and design of the Law was higher, as is clearly illustrated in the Gospel : (Matt, v, 43, 44, and Mark xii, 33.) The real end and de- sign of sacrifices was representative, and not vicarious, in the usual sense of the word. The natural man having embraced this doctrine, must, of course, ground it on Holy Scripture ; and there is one passage chiefly on which the system rests, or which, at least, involves the whole doctrine, — God toill by no means clear the guilty. This, and kindred passages of Scripture, are construed by the natural man to mean that there is no forgiveness with God, without a substi- tute for sins. Now, the passage proves anything else but the ne- cessity of a substitute for sins. The passage reads thus : — And the Lord passed by before him (before Moses) and proclaimed, the Lord, the J/yrd God, merciful and gmciaiis, long suffering and abun- 9 M 16 ■I daiU in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgimng iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and tJiat tvill hy no means dear the gu^y. Here the Divine forgiveness is declared, in the most unqualified manner, to the penitent,— /or^cing' iniquity, transgression, and sin; but no forgiveness to the impenitent, — the Lord wUl by no means clear the guilty. If it is here meant that there is no pardon for the guilty, on repentance, man must perish ; for he is guilty ; and if it meant that the guilty is forgiven for the sake of a victim, or substi- tute, this tfoes clear the guilty. ' -h , ,, i.. I read no where in the Gospel that the Lord demanded satisfaction for past sins, in order to their forgiveness by Himself, "nie only condition there stated is to forsake sins, and they are at once for- given by an act of the Divine Sovereignty, — thy sins be forgiven thee. Here is an absolute and unqualified pardon for the past. That sins are forgiven upon repentance is the uniform doctrine tau^t by the Lord Himself in Person ; and he gave this doctrine in com- mand to His ministers for all future time, — that repentoTice and re- mission of sins should be preached in His name, throughout cdl nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Still it is continually afRrmed that there is no forgiveness of sins without a substitute for sins. But, how could a substitute ever be found ? Why, upon the supposition that there are three Gods in- stead of one ! One is thus made to atone to another, for the sins committed equally against both ! But how could one Divine Being suffer to appease another ? If there are three different Persons, or Beings, and all equals how could one go out of Himself to become a substitute to the others for the sins of man ? How could the Son do an act which the Father could not do ? If one could not forgive sins without a substitute, how could the others ? In the very nature of the case, no substitute for sins can ever be found. God cannot undo the sins of man by suffering the penalty of sin. God cannot suffer ; and nothing finite is sufficient to atone to the Infinite. No one would venture to say that the Divine nature died on the cross for sin ; and if it were not the Divine nature, the satisfaction spoken of could not be made. If it is said, that though the Lord could not suffer, yet the Human nature of the Lord could, it may be replied that the Human nature which suffered death was finite ; and if the highest angel, as has been often affirmed, could not suffer or atone for the sins of man, how could that nature which was made loiver than the angels, for the suffering of death f My 17 !s, forgimng 9 means dear — 't f, . , ^ , , t unqualified ion, and sin; by no means trdon for the iy ; and if it n, or substi- l satisfaction : 'nie only at once for- ie forgiven or the past, •trine taugiit ■ine in com- nce and re- t all nations f ness of sins ute ever be ee Gods in- br the sins Ivine Beingf Persons, or become a the Son do forgive sins ;an ever be he penalty nt to atone vine nature mture, the lat though jord could, death was nod, could (ure which ath? My Brethren, justice and mercy are in accordance with, and are not in opposition to, each other. They are kindred attributes in the God- head ; and appear differently according to the different states of man. Mercy or Love is the soul of forgiveness ; and justice is the form of its manifestation to sinners. Hence man cannot be forgiven until he is in a state to receive forgiveness. Now, an evil man is not in a state to receive this forgiveness (though it is continually urged upon him by the Divine Being), because an evil man is not able to com- prehend either the mercy or the justice of God. Apply it, and you will see the truth at once. A kind parent loves his child, though the child is evil ; but, till the child cease from evil, he cannot receive the kind parent's love. The parent feels nothing but mercy and forgiveness, but the child cannot receive them as such. He cannot feel this love till he is touched with sorrow for his disobe- dience to his father's will. Then he feels that love and justice are kindred qualities, and that the just restraints put upon him, by pa- rental authority are the simple evidences of Love ; and that they were designed not to punish him, but to induce him to return to his obedience. Merely to forgive the child, while he remained impeni- tent, would do him no good ; indeed, " forgiveness," in such a case, is a moral impossibility ! Forgiveness s^lways exists in a kind parent's heart ; but the child is not able to receive it while in a state of op- position to his iather's will. The change required is not in the parent, but in the child. So, while men remain impenitent, they cannot receive the Divine forgiveness. God always loves them, but they cannot feel His Love ; nay, His very love is considered unmerciful, because it will not en- courage them in sin. His Love requires not the punishment, but the return of the sinner ; it requires the re-establishment of the Law in his heart; and hence it becomes strict justice, on the part of God, to forgive the sinner on repentance. This is the nature of the Divine forgiveness : there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared. But the sinner, in his natural state, considers God's foigiveness mere- ly as giving up the demands of the Law instead of rectifying the disorders which lead to the violation of it. He considers justice and mercy naturally at war with each other, so long as he remains in this natural state of mind. But, when he begins to feel the Love of God, and is touched with a sense of the forgiving nature of that Love, he feels that justice and mercy are one j that the Divine forgiveness is not a f.hange in God, but in man ; that God always forgives, but that man is not always in a state to receive this forgiveness. c 'y ii i. " II 14 18 Man is a wanderer from his Father's house, and God in Ihc kind parent waiting for man's return. And is God not at lil)erty to act the part of a kind parent ? Can He not receive the returning peni- tent till an innocent person suffers for tlie guilty ? Till some one else is punished, is there no pardon for the Prodigal son 7 Is man Tn&re merciful than God ? "Will it never do for God to forgive the debt, till the debt itself has been paid ? Why the debt never can be paid in the least degree ! A sin, once committed, it committed, and cannot be undone for ever ; and no satisfaction for it, is oven possible. God cannot suffer for it, and no one else can atone for it ; but God can forgive sins, and He has continually declared His willingness to do so, and the end and design of His forgiveness is to recall His wandering children, — let them return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy icpon them; and to our God, for He tvill abundantly pardon. If man cannot be forgiven until a full satisfaction has been made for violating the Law of God, then he never can be forgiven; for it is a part of that Law that the innocent cannot suffer any more than that the guilty can escape. In the meantime, the maker of the law cannot endure the penalty ; for that would be to change the very law itself. He who sins, he alone can endure the penalty— ry nature of eternal e enquiry en made, rcing thin elij die. — IS passed ijwkcn of, n an nrticio necessarily eternal death ? On the contrary, are we not told that if men return from their evil ways, they shall not die eternally ; that the soul that sinaeth it shall die ; that he who lives on in sin shall die, but if the wicked turn from all his sins he shall surely live ; he shall not die, but shaJl save his soul alive. Why tnll ye die, O House of Israel, for I have no pleasure, saith the Lord, in the death of him that dielh. There is no threat of eternal death in these passages, nor is there any warrant for such a threat to the penitent, in the Holy Scriptures. See Ezekiel xxxiii. 14, 15, 16, where this very expression — he sJudl surely die, occurs ; where it is emphatically de- clared that if he repent, he shall not die, he shall surely live. So nlso in the same Prophet, iii. 18, 19. Besides, how could a threat ever proceed from God ? — what could be the object of the Divine threatening, as declared to exist in Genesis ii., before alluded to ? It would have been a threat to inno- cent beings. Would you threaten an innocent child by way of keeping him in obedience ? And are not virtuous beings conscious, without a threat, that sin is offensive to the Holy One ? How could a threat be urged as a motive to retain them in a state of innocence ? Or, was it to produce fear ! Fear is addressed only to fallen beings, and even then, fear is merely the beginning of wisdom ; perfect love casteth out fear, because all fear hath torment. Love is the only constraining motive of virtuous obedience; and if love were too weak a motive for such obedience, a threat would never succeed. It would produce only a feeling of alarm and disquietude. It was therefore not a threat at all. It was simply a declaration, as we gather from other places in the Holy Scripture, and especially in those just referred to in Ezekiel. The declaration of the Al- mighty was, — that the sold that simieth shall die ; it was the principle of the Divine Government, and it declared the nature of all opposi- tion to His will. Such a feeling of opposition would entail its own misery, and bring the soul into a state of condemnation. The ex- pression of death in the above passage is just equivalent to the ex- pression of condemnation, or damnation. This is the damnation (for the word is so translated in other parts of the Gospel), that light is come into the toorld, and men loved darkness rather than light, be- cause their deeds were evil. The threat, so called, is here executed ; the sentence has already passed ; the death, or condemnation, has al- ready taken place ; this is the condemnation ; and yet this death is not eternal ! the siimer is still called Upon to return and live ; he that fursaketk his sins sliallfind tueny ; there is forgiceness with Thee, that ■:l 20 Thmi mayest be feared ; the soul tfuU sinneth, ii shall die ; and the soul that sinneth does die, and no one can die for it. There is no possibility of escape ; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him : the soul that sinneth, it shall die. v • .. Again, it is objected to the power of God to forgive sins out of His own sovereignty, without satisfaction being made to His injured justice, that others would continue to sin on with the hope of pardon at last. How does this objection operate ? If men are not to be forgiven on repentance, because others will sin on, the Father could not re- ceive the returning Prodigal. The Pather must demand satisfaction for the past, before he could exercise forgiveness towards his son ! Upon this principle, the Christian could not forgive others, as he prays God to forgive him ; nor could any encouragement be offered to continue in a life of progressive holiness. If Thau, Lord, shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss {shouldest mark iniquities), O Lord, who shall stand ? But there is forgiveness ivith Thee that Thou mayest be feared. It has been even objected against the power of God to forgive sins ; that the good of the Universe demands that the justice of God should be vindicated by a full satisfaction for the sins of man, lest other worlds, now innocent, should sin too ! What an objection for a finite creature to propose, — the good of the universe demands it ! But how does this objection operate ; how does the case stand with regard to other parts of the Universe ? It stands thus : If satisfaction has been made for one world, why not for the others ? If God is just, they would say, he will extend the vicarious sacrifice throughout the Universe. The satisfaction is infinite ; and there is therefore enough in it to atone for all sins ! Why, the effect would be to encourage Beings to sin, rather than to hinder them. They would plead the example of one world already fallen, and claim the same immunities. Nor could the justice of God, upon this principle as here objected, refuse the claim ! Such are the contradictions into which men have fallen, in order to vindicate what they call the jus- tice of God ! Such are their «' objections " to His government. The truth is, that men talk a great deal about the injured justice of God, and the good of the Universe, and they care nothing about the one or the other. They contend for what they call tlic justice of God, while they are often destitute themselves of the most simple jus- -■*■, 21 ie ; and the riiere is no lis shall be upon him: out of His lis injured ! of pardon be forgiven lid not re- satisfaction Is his son ! ers, as he be offered i, shmddest quities), O '■ that Thou ''give sins ; rod should lest other ood of the rate; how leree ? It le others ? s sacrifice i there is Bct would 1. They claim the principle ions into the jus- ent. d justice ng about usticc of nple jus- ticc towards their fellow creatures ! With the justice of God, they have nothing to do in the way of protecting it ; for, it will always protect itself. On the same principle, why not protect the laws of nature from injury ? They are God's laws ; they are the laws of Infinite justice ; and they are continually injured or violated in the way of infraction ; but they always vindicate themselves, and require no other satisfaction for the injury or violation. The injured justice of God ! Why, it never can be injured, for, if it could be injured, it would cease to be Infinite Justice ! Violate one of these laws, and see if there is any other satisfaction required than suffering the penalty ? Put your hand into the fire, and see whether you have in- jured the infinite justice of God, or injured yourself. It is precisely the same in the moral world ; and if you violate these laws, the consequences are just as inevitable as when you violate the laws of nature. The difference is in the extent of punishment. Nature is confined to this world ; but the moral laws are eternal in their sanc- tions, and if men live and die in a sinful state, they will feel the consequences for ever ! Sin on through this life, and you carry the results into eternity with you ; the evil purposes of the heart, whe- ther open or secret here, will there lead to endless misery and dis- quietude. Become regenerated in this world, and all that is high, and holy, and heavenly, awaits you in the world to come ! If such, then, be the doctrine of the Divine forgiveness ; if it is an act of mercy alone, and has no reference to any satisfaction for the past, — why was it necessary for Christ to suffer ? And what was the object of His coming into the world ? He came to redeem man, to deliver him from a state of thraldom and servitude, as is continu- ally and emphatically declared throughout the Holy Prophets. Man was in bondage ; in prison, chains, and darkness ; subject to the power of enemies he could not subdue : these powers had gained the ascendancy, and Christ came to destroy them. He was manifested, we are told by the apostle, that He might destroy the works of the Devil. He assumed the Human nature to subdue the powers of evil in that nature over which they had once triumphed ; to glorify it, by admitting into that nature temptations and combats from the powers of darkness ; and thus, by vanquishing those powers for ever, to be- come the perpetual human medium of saving influences to mankind. He came to remove no obstacles to the forgiveness of sin, because no such obstacles ever existed ; and when He came he forgave sins, as He always had forgiven them, and does naw ! There was nothing rfaid about satisfaction for the past, in order to be forgiven. On the 1 i^^ m .\ 22 contrary, they were told to forgive sins to others as God forgfave their