"How beautiful falls From human lips that blessed word, FORGIVE.” If there is anything which has power to bind the heart of man with a firm, enduring affection, it is forgiveness, called forth by meek, sincere, unconditional repentance. Every one of us, however short our lives and slight our experience, can perhaps remember when, having done injustice to some one near and dear, pardon has been implored and forgiveness readily and affectionately granted-can remember, I say, the magic with which it swept away any lingering trace of alienated feeling, and bound with renewed strength every sentiment of regard and esteem. The faculty of forgiving and receiving forgiveness is one of the finest in human nature. It is the main point in every noble, every refined and elevated character. Dark, sinister, and intriguing men can never forgive, and the consciousness of being forgiven is sufficient to arouse their darkest passions. If a man wishes to live a peaceful, rational life, he must call forgiveness often into action; and he will find it has the magic of a charm to allay all bitterness, reconcile all differences, dispel all those petty quarrels which so often embitter the intercourse of even good men. It is the glorious element in God's government over man, as well as an essential, life-giving principle of the plan of redemption. It is the leading feature of Holy Writ, and finds an ardent, sincere response in the bosom of every high-minded man. It is the strongest link in the chain that binds the heart of every Christian to his Lord and Master. It is the consciousness of being forgiven, that awakens all the nobler emotions of his soul, and rouses his dormant energies to active service in the cause of his Redeemer. Forgiveness from God or man, lays an individual under obligations that, to a sensitive, delicate mind, are anything but unpleasant or humiliating. A certain degree of pride of character is far from being reprehensible-it gives force and dignity; but the pride that cannot ask forgiveness, is obstinacy, is stubbornness; and the mind that it will not melt and subdue, must be dead to all that is noble, destitute of all that assimilates to divinity, and fiendish enough for pandemonium itself. Could the world at large be induced to enter upon the practice of forgiveness, its use would soon be obviated, and the millennium dawn upon us in all its splendor and glory. Let us then remember, that as in the ocean the greatest commotion is produced by the action of small particles one upon another, so we, although insignificant members of an extensive community, are constantly coming in contact one with another, and transmitting our thoughts, feelings, and opinions. And however our feelings may be injured, our characters assailed, our tempers vexed and tried, let us remember, it is God-like to forgive.-FLETCher. DELIVERED BEFORE THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, AT BUFFALO, SEPTEMBER 8, 1847. - OUR TRUE ENCOURAGEMENT. Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high.-ISAIAH, 32: 15. As regards the final and universal triumphs of the Gospel, no believer in the Bible can entertain a doubt. Glorious things are spoken of Zion, the City of our God, and we are assured, explicitly, that the kingdoms of this world shall one day become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ. That light which now shines on our path, is yet to lighten all the Gentiles, and be the glory of the people of Israel. Thus it is written, and thus it will be. But what is to secure the ultimate coming of this happy period? Our hope all hangs on one single thing-the promise of the Spirit-and occupying the position we do in the annals of time, we can look neither backward nor forward, without being convinced how dependent we are on such aid. What has been done, teaches us this; and what is still to be done teaches it with even greater emphasis. Every past conquest has been the effect of union and communion with the Divine Comforter; and our ability to carry on the enterprise in a way at all commensurate with the grandeur of the object before us, must be derived from the same source. Even more than former assistance will be needed. Instead of occasional drops of mercy, water must be poured upon the thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. The text refers to this; and it is too well understood to require any particular explanation. Suffice it simply to say, that the chapter begins with a cheering account of the approach of a brighter day; but it goes on to tell us, that, in the meantime, a season of gloom and depression would ensue, to be terminated only by the pouring out of the Spirit from on high. This would work a delightful change. Then the wilderness would become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. No language could be more appropriate to us, in the relation which we, as a Missionary Society, sustain to the conversion of the world. Large as are our resources, numerous as are the laborers we have sent forth, and strong as is the hold which this blessed cause has taken on the affections of the people, we were never more dependent on help from heaven than at this very moment. Without special divine aid we can do nothing. God must plentifully imbue our hearts with the influences of the Spirit, that we may use the right means for effecting our object, that we may prosecute the work with proper energy, and that we may see our efforts attended with success. These are the points which I wish to illus trate and enforce. I. The Spirit of God must be with us, or we shall not use the right means for converting the world. Our undertaking is a vast one, and we are not left in uncertainty as to the way in which it is to be accomplished. That Gospel, which God has given us to spread as well as to enjoy, was made for man, and though there is in it no independent efficacy, it does possess an adaptedness to the renovation of his moral nature. No matter where you meet him, or whatever be the depth of his depravity, this is the remedy for his ruin. There is here an ordained channel through which the Spirit of God operates to change the heart, make the poor Pagan a new creature, turn the desert into a goodly land, and fill a world of crime and sorrow with righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Sending the knowledge of Christ abroad through the nations, is the appointed method of saving men. We know of no other means-having thus the seal of heaven upon them-for subverting the kingdom of Satan, rooting idolatry out of the earth, and restoring our race to fellowship with their Maker. The commission under which we act runs thus-to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified. To bring about this result, we are confined to a single instrumentality—the pure, unadulterated Gospel-that Gospel which we ourselves have received, and wherein we stand. This we are pledged, as far as in us lies, to send abroad to all them that dwell on the face of the earth, assured that nothing is wanting to cause the truth to triumph everywhere, but the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit. Our great busi ness is to teach men that they have ruined themselves by sin, to lead them to disclaim all righteousness of their own, and to bring them to a cordial trust in the blood of the cross. We must give the heathen that very Gospel which was preached on the day of Pentecost, which the Reformation carried into the heart of Germany, which was found in the caves and mountains of Scotland when she was faithful to her covenant, which our Puritan Fathers brought with them from the old world, and which glowed with divine life in the bosom of an Edwards, a Brainerd, and a Davies. This is the panoply in which we are to wage war with the powers of darkness. We have no other armour. This Gospel we are to send, in simplicity and godly sincerity, to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. It must be our determination, at every stage of progress, not to know anything save Jesus Christ, and him crucified; and so long as we pursue the work in this way, we may be cheered with the conviction that an instrumentality on which God has a thousand times made his impress, will not be employed in vain. This can save a soul from death, and it can save a world from death. If we ever forget that there is a principle of vitality in the genuine Gospel-the plan of salvation, the story of the crucifixion-when thus applied, we shall find the very sinews of missionary effort all cut at once. The words that I speak unto you, said the Great Teacher, they are spirit, and they are life. There shall be a handful of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains, the fruit whereof shall shake like Lebanon. It is more faith in God's instrumentality that we need. We look at the Gospel, and what is it, if left to itself, but the declaration of a fact-the narrative of an event-the revelation of a doctrine? How can it change the heart of a heathen, and create new sensations, and lead to new solicitudes, and awaken new joys there, to tell him that in Christ we have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace? The cause seems unequal to the effect. But when there goes, along with the statement of such facts, an unseen agency, more powerful than that which makes the mountains tremble, all difficulty is removed. The Gospel is not the breath of man, it is the power of God. It is not a feeble weapon, it is the sword of the Spirit. It is not a mere tale of wonder, it is a message of life. Nothing that the world has ever seen descends so deeply into the seat of human sympathies, or works such revolutions in the character of man. The kind of duty we have to perform is obvious. We but go forth, in the persons of our missionaries, to declare, in the school, along the way-side, and at the temple of idolatry, that which we ourselves have seen, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life. There is no necessity for our being told, that this is God's method for working salvation in the midst of the earth. Never can it be matter of surprise to us, that the bare reading of the story of the crucifixion, in the lonely tent of a man of God in Greenland, should be attended with such power as to strike the mind of a half-sleeping heathen at the door, and prompt him to exclaim, "Those are precious words, let me hear them again." We must forget our own conversion, before these things can appear strange. It is no part of our business to make experiments for the relief of human wo, or the removal of human guilt. We have a Saviour to speak of; whose blood we know cleanseth from all sin; we have the invitation to give: whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely; and then, to complete our resources, we have the promise, Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. This is our reliance. Thus equipped, we go out to fight God's battle among men. And sad will be the day when our compassion for sinners begins to dig for itself a channel different from that in which the Saviour's flowed, or our impatience to get the work done leads us to the use of means such as he has not authorized. All we can do-all we are allowed to do-is to take our stand at the foot of the cross, and point the heathen to its bleeding victim. Our sole expedient for saving men from hell, is the atonement of Calvary, the expiatory sacrifice of the Son of God; that righteousness which is unto all, and upon all them that believe. These constitute the glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. When our sons and our daughters leave us to cross oceans, and climb mountains, and journey over valleys, we must charge them to repeat everywhere the story of the apostacy, and of the death of Christ to remove the curse. We must exhort them to say, God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life. These are the means by which we are to accomplish our object, and we need to be kept to them without deviation or faltering. This can be done only by such a measure of divine influ ence, daily exerted upon our hearts, as shall cause the Gospel to loom up largely and gloriously before us, and inspire us with a perfect confidence in its divinely appointed efficacy. As a missionary organization, the presence with us of the Good Spirit, is indispensable. No resolutions, however stringent, to require an orthodox creed in those who enter the foreign field-no well adjusted frame-work of ecclesiastical supervision-no votes of councils or synods to commission only good men and true, will secure the giving of real, vital Christianity to the nations. These things may be useful and important, but they are not sufficient. The moment we ourselves become indifferent to the doctrines of total depravity, justification by faith, and regeneration by the Spirit, |