that we are renewed in the spirit of our minds. There are, it is true, some persons of so easy and gentle a disposition, that they would rather pass by an offence than be at the trouble to resent it. But the forgiving spirit of which we are speaking must proceed from a sense of our own utter unworthiness, and of the exceeding greatness of that debt which has been forgiven us. It must proceed also from a sense of love and gratitude to our Lord and Saviour, and from a desire to honour him by treading in his steps and " walking as he walked." Now where such principles and such conduct are found, there will every other grace be found also: there is in an eminent degree the image of God enstamped upon the soul ; and there is " a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light." It is reasonable therefore that such a person, possessed of such humility, such faith, such love, such patience, such self-denial, and such an obediential frame, should be forgiven by his God. There is a perfect correspondence between his work and his reward.
On the contrary, a person of an unforgiving spirit shews, beyond a doubt, that he is altogether unhumbled for his own sins. If he had a proper consciousness of the guilt which he himself has contracted, he would feel no disposition to cast a stone at others : nor would he take a fellow-servant by the throat for a few pence, when he was sensible how many talents he himself owed unto his God, Who, that reads the parable by which our Lord has illustrated this subject, does not see the equity of the sentence passed upon the unforgiving servant''? So must also that universal sentence be accounted reasonable by every dispassionate man, " He shall have judgment without mercy, who hath shewed no mercy ^."
On whichever side then we view the condition, it appears most reasonable : it is most reasonable that the forgiving should be pardoned, and the unforgiving punished : and knowing as we do, the determination of God to act agreeably to this rule, we must prepare to expect our sentence of condemnation or acquittal according to it.]
From this one subject we may obtain a deep insight into Christianity : we may behold,
I. Its consistency —
[Persons from different motives are apt to represent the declarations of God in his word as at variance with each other ; and, according to their respective views, to wrest the meaning of them for the purpose of maintaining their own particular system. Some, because the grace of God is freely proclaimed
e Matt, xviii. 23 — 35. ^ Jam. ii. 13.