placable difpofition, but a disposition conftantly placable, always ready to forgive the offences of our brother, however frequently he may repeat thofe offences. For it was immediately after our Lord had told Peter that he was to forgive his brother not merely feven times, but feventy times feven, that he added this parable to confirm that very doctrine; therefore, fays he, is the kingdom of heaven like unto a certain king, &c. But then it is only upon this condition, that the offender is fincerely penitent, and entreats forgiveness. This is evident from the parallel paffage in St. Luke, which expreffes this condition : « If thy brother trespass against thee feven times in a day, and feven times in a day turn again to thee, faying, I repent; thou fhalt forgive him." Yet even this will to many people appear a hard faying, and will not very well agree with thofe high fpirited paffions, and that keen fenfe of injuries, which too generally prevail, and which instead of forgiving repeated offences, will liften to no entreaties, no expreflions of contrition, even for a fingle one. are you then content that your heavenly Father fhould deal out the fame measure to you that you mete to your brother? Are you content that one fingle offence fhould exclude you for ever from the arms of his mercy? Are you not every day heaping up fin upon fin; do not you ftand as much in need of daily forgiveness as you do of your daily bread; and do you think it an excess of indulgence, an overftrained degree of tenderness and compaf-fion, that your Maker should pardon you feven times a day, or even feventy times feven?

2. In the next place I would remark, that this parable is a practical comment on that petition in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trefpaffes as we forgive them that trefpafs against us ;" and it fhews what infinite stress our divine Mafter lays on this duty of forgiveness, by the care he takes to enforce it in fo many different ways, by this parable, by making it a part of our daily prayers, and by his repeated declarations that we must expect no mercy from our Maker" unless we from our hearts forgive every one his brother their trefpaffest." To the fame purpose are those irresistible words of St. Paul: "Be ye therefore Luke. xvii. 4.. + Matth. xviii, 35.

kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Chrift's fake hath forgiven you*.? Let the hard-hearted unrelenting man of the world, or the obdurate unforgiving parent, advert to these repeated admonitions, and then let him, if he can, indignantly fpurn from him the repenting offender entreating pardon at his feet in thofe heart-piercing words, "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all."

And yet it is dreadful to state, as I must do in the laft place, what very little regard is paid to this precept by a large part of mankind.

No man, I believe, ever heard or read the parable before us without feeling his indignation rise against the ungrateful and unfeeling fervant, who, after having a debt of ten thousand talents remitted to him by his indulgent Lord, threw his fellow fervant into prison for a debt of an hundred pence. And yet how frequently are we ourselves guilty of the very fame offence?

Who is there among us that has not had ten thousand talents forgiven him by his heavenly Father? Take together all the offences of his life, all his fins and follies from the first hour of his maturity to the present time, and they may well be compared to this immenfe sum ; which immenfe fum, if he has been a fincere penitent, has been all forgiven through the merits of his Redeemer. Yet when his fellow-chriftian owes him an hundred pence, when he commits the flighteft offence againft him, he too often refuses him forgivenefs, though he fall at his feet to implore it.

In fact do we not every day fee men refenting not only real injuries, but flight and even imaginary offences, with extreme vehemence and paffion, and fometimes punishing the offender with nothing less than death? Do we not even fee families rent afunder, and all domeftic tranquility and comfort destroyed frequently by the moft trivial caufes, fometimes on one fide, and fometimes on both, refusing to liften to any reasonable overtures of peace, haughtily re

Eph. iv. 32.

jecting all offers of reconciliation, infifting on the highest poffible fatisfaction and fubmiffion, and carrying these fentiments of implacable rancour with them to the grave? And yet these people call themselves Christians, and expect to be themselves forgiven at the throne of mercy!

Let then every man of this defcription remember and most seriously reflect on this parable; let him remember that the unforgiving fervant was delivered over to the tormentors till he should pay the uttermoft farthing. Let him recollect that all the world approves this fentence; that he himself cannot but approve it; that he cannot but feel himself to be precifely in the fituation of that very fervant, and that of course he must at the last tremendous day expect that bitter and unanfwerable reproach from his offended Judge: "O thou wicked fervant! I forgave thee all that debt because thou defiredft me; shouldeft not thou also have had compaffion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee?"

LECTURE XVII.

MATTHEW xix.

THE

HE paffage of Scripture which I propose to explain in the prefent Lecture, is a part of the 19th chap-ter of St. Matthew, beginning at the 16th verse.

"Behold," fays the evangelift, "one came and faid unto him (meaning Jefus) Good Master, what good thing fhall I do that I may have eternal life? And he faid unto him, Why calleft thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He faith unto him, Which? Jefus faid, Thou shalt do no murder, thou fhalt not com mit adultery, thou shalt not fteal, thou fhalt not bear false witnefs. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, thou fhalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. The young man faith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? Jefus faid unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and fell that thou haft, and give to the poor, and thou fhalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away forrowful: for he had great poffeffions.”

The converfation here related between the young ruler (for fo he is called by St. Luke) and our bleffed Lord, cannot but be extremely interefting to every fincere Chrif tain, who is anxious about his own falvation. A young man of high rank, and of large poffeffions, came with great hafte and eagernefs; came running, as St. Mark expreffes it, to Jefus; and throwing himself at his feet, propofed to him this moft important question: "Good Mafter, what good thing fhall I do, that I may have eternal life?" This was not a question of mere curiosity, or an infidious one, as the questions put to our Lord (ef