ant after another can appear to reap the fruits of his munificence. And though it is only in consequence of the single sacrifice of Christ that any sin ever has been, or can be forgiven: have we any authority for affirming that pardon is bestowed before it is sought, and still less before the offence is committed, or the sinner brought into existence? Time can neither increase nor impair the value of the atonement: but time is requisite to raise up the successive generations who shall share in the blessings of the Redeemer's death.

In Scripture sin is represented as the only cause of the Divine displeasure. Ignorance, mistake, weakness, and pain may be all troublesome to society, and a source of vexation and distress to the sufferer; but while free from sin, they are no ground of offence to God. But sin is the abominable thing which he hates; and wherever it exists,

is the cause of his strong and unchanging abhorrence. It is against this that his wrath is revealed from heaven, and comes upon any of the souls of When sin is forgiven his anger is turned away. He is pacified towards us. He comforts us, and rejoices over us to do us good.

men.

If, therefore, all sin had been pardoned when Jesus died; since that day the world would have been cleared of the visitations of judgment: sorrow and suffering would have been unknown, and the earth converted into an abode of peace and joy. But in the face of the crimes and calamities which every where darken and desolate the globe; how

can we affirm that all sin has been forgiven? When asured that by nature all " are the children of wrath;" that "he that believeth not is condemned already;" that the wrath of God shall not seize on him or overtake him, but to intimate that it was on him before he was guilty of unbelief, we are told that "the wrath of God abideth on him:" in the teeth of these awful assurances, how can we assert that all sin is remitted?

Does

the effect operate after the cause has ceased? Does frost retain its grasp amidst the heat of summer; or congelation go on in the heart of a burning furnace?

Whenever sin is forgiven, the Scriptures inform us that it is blotted out, forgotten, and cast into the depths of the sea. The accounts of the ancients were sometimes inscribed on waxen tablets. When the debt was discharged, the surface of the tablet was melted, and the writing thus for ever effaced. To this practice some suppose allusion is made where sin is said to be "covered." But at any rate sin shall no more rise up against those who have received pardon from the Eternal, than the hand-writing can be revived on the surface of the melted wax. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. i. 18. See also Jer. xxxi. 34, xxxiii. 8. Micah vii. 18, 19. Heb. x. 16-18. The east and the west will sooner meet, than the par

doned sinner come in contact with his sins. Psal. ciii. 3, 12. At death they cannot daunt him. 1 Cor. xv. 55-57. And even in that dread day, when the countless millions from all quarters of the earth shall surround the throne of justice, and the Omniscient shall lay judgment to the line and equity to the plummet; even then when he will bring every work into judgment, "in those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none: and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon whom I reserve." Jer. 1. 20. See also Isa. xliv. 22.

Whenever sin is pardoned, the love and favour of God are immediately bestowed. "Thy sins are forgiven thee," from the lips of our incarnate Redeemer, not only banished disease and pain, but recalled health and strength, and assured the happy individual of peace with God and a right to heaven. In the eighty-fifth psalm, the prosperity of the people, and the restoration of their captivity are attributed to the forgivness of their sins. In the thirty-second Psalm, David speaks of the blessedness of those who are possessed of pardon: and he adds no more. But was nothing

more included in his language? Listen to the words of Paul. In his inspired commentary on this interesting text, he says: "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying; Blessed are they whose iniquities are for

given, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Rom. iv. 6-8. Why shall the inhabitant not say I am sick? "Because the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." Isa. xxxiii. 24.

Whenever sin is forgiven salvation inevitably follows. Hence, though there is a wide difference betwixt pardon, justification, and salvation; yet, from the inseparable connection betwixt them, and the fact that one of them is never enjoyed without the rest, one of these is often employed for the other. Thus we find, in the following passages, that the forgivness of sins is used as equivalent with salvation, or redemption through the blood of Christ. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgivness of sins." "Through this man is preached unto you the forgivness of sins." "In whom we have redemption through his blood, givness of sins." Acts v. 31, xiii. 38.

even the for

Col. i. 14. Besides, in reading such language as the above, it is natural to inquire, Why was Christ "exalted to give forgivness of sins," if this blessing was bestowed before he left the earth?

If every sin, except unbelief, is forgiven; then, it must be wrong to preach the gospel to Heathens and Mahometans. Even supposing that all of them should believe it, the gospel can do no more than save them: and since they are already par

doned, they are already sure of heaven. But, if upon hearing the gospel, any of them shall reject it, they must incur the guilt and consequences of unbelief. According to this hypothesis, the gospel, instead of being the power of God unto salvation, is the ministration of condemnation and wrath; and if we are to consult either the honour of God or the good of man; instead of preaching it to every creature, we should be compelled to conceal and suppress it.

But unless unbelief was likewise pardoned, all sin cannot be forgiven: for nothing can be more obvious than that, while a single offence remains uncancelled, all sin has not been blotted out. If, therefore, unbelief, in common with every other sin has been remitted; every human creature is free from guilt and perfectly safe. None of all the children of Adam, can, consistently with justice, be subjected to punishment. The criminal who obtains his sovereign's pardon is entitled to his life. It would be at the peril of any man to injure him and were the officers of justice to put him to death, they would be guilty of murder. And if, at the death of Christ, all the sins of the whole human race were forgiven, there is not an inhabitant of the earth, who could, in equity, be subjected to everlasting misery. To punish those who have received the free forgiveness of the Eternal King, is a gross outrage upon justice, and the most monstrous idea that can enter the mind. The votaries, however, of this scheme,