a love as this can only spring from the extension of God's forgiving mercy to our own souls. If we feel that we have been forgiven much, it is surely a natural return that we should love much; and how can we better manifest our love to a forgiving God, than by seeking-O how faintly!-to resemble Him in this feature of His character. Thus shall we most effectually show that we know something of the value of the forgiveness we have experienced. Our offences against a holy God are too numerous, too aggravated, too heinous to be compared for a moment with the weightiest offences we may have sustained at the hands of our fellow-men. And if God has passed by all these transgressions, if He has cast them for ever into the depths of the sea, O surely it is but a small matter that we should pass by the trifling and unimportant injuries that are committed against us. If, then, we hope for the divine forgiveness, let us freely forgive those that trespass against us, and should their injuries be ever so numerous and ever so irritating, let us forgive them, not only "until seven times, but until seventy times seven."

Such, reader, is the spirit of the gospel: is it the spirit that animates your heart? Have you ever known what it is to have found mercy of God? Have you ever tasted and seen that He is gracious? Or does not that envious, malicious, revengeful temper, manifest but too plainly that you are a stranger

to vital godliness, that with all your profession you have never known its power? Come then to the fountain which has been opened in the house of David, for sin and for uncleanness. Wash and be clean. But O, never imagine that you have been buried with Christ in his death, unless you have risen with Him unto newness of life.

SECTION V.-FASTING.

MAT. VI. 16-18.

The three great Christian duties in which the Pharisees of our Lord's time chiefly abounded, were Alms-giving, Prayer, and Fasting. Our blessed Lord in this discourse treats of them in regular order, showing, that in each and all of them the same unhallowed feeling was at work-a desire to be seen and applauded of men. If they gave alms to the poor it was in the most public and ostentatious manner; if they engaged in the solemn exercise of prayer it was in the most open places, the synagogues, and the corners of the streets; and if they fasted, the exercise partook of the same character.

V. 16. "Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure

their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

Fasting, or an abstinence from food for a season, as a token of the humiliation of the soul, as well as for purposes of devotion, has been practised in all ages. It is a natural expression of grief; for when the mind is much distressed on any account whatever, a man's "life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat." His heart is full, and his appetite is gone. And while fasting, as a religious observance, has its foundation in nature, it is evidently sanctioned by the whole Word of God. By the law of Moses, a national fast was appointed to be observed once every year, that the people of Israel might "afflict their souls." Throughout the whole of the Old Testament history, we have frequent mention of fasts having been proclaimed on special public occasions. Thus, Jehoshaphat issued a decree, that the Jews should fast when the enemy came against Judea in overwhelming numbers. At the coming up of the people from the captivity of Babylon, Ezra, the governor, called upon the people to fast and pray, before setting out on their return to their own land. Various other cases occur, both among the Jews and Gentiles, in which public fasts were commanded and observed.

Our Lord, however, in the passage now under consideration, speaks not of public, but of private fasts, such as pious men in all ages have often practised,

abstaining either altogether or partially from food for a time, that they might give themselves up to solemn humiliation and earnest prayer. Nor does our Lord utter a single word to discourage from the observance of this duty. The Pharisee fasted regularly twice in the week, and Jesus objects not to the duty, but to the manner in which the duty was observed. He admits that it was right that the soul should be humbled before God in the deepest humiliation and heart-felt contrition; that even the outward expression of this inward feeling, by the observance of fasting, was not unsuitable, but rather to be commended; and yet He warns His disciples that true, acceptable fasting must be of a very different character from that of the formalist. The Pharisee was wont to appear, on the days which he had set apart for fasting, clothed in the meanest dress, with his head and face covered with ashes, his head hanging down like a bulrush, and his eyes fixed upon the ground, wishing to convey, by his whole aspect and demeanour, that his soul was weighed down to the dust because of sin. Such a mode of fasting God abhorreth. It is done, not as unto God, but as unto man, and "verily," says our Lord, "they have their reward." Men behold and admire; but what of that? A poor reward it is." It is not he who commendeth himself, or whom man commendeth, that will be approved on the Great Day, but he,” and he only, "whom the Lord commendeth."

The fast which God will accept consists not of mere "bodily exercise," which "profiteth little," but of a soul subdued under a sense of sin. We must rend our hearts, and not our garments. "With that man will I dwell, even with him that is of an humble and a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word." In regard to the extent to which fasting or abstinence from food ought to be carried, no regulations are laid down in the Word of God.

Whether the abstinence be total for a time, or only partial, must depend upon the peculiar constitution of each individual; but it cannot be denied, however much, in the present state of the Church, the practice is neglected, that good men in all ages have fasted. David "humbled his soul with fasting," and Daniel “set his face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." In the New Testament we find Anna, the prophetess, serving God with fastings and prayers day and night; the Gentile Cornelius is engaged in fasting and prayer when the Angel of God appears to him; and we are expressly informed that "the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast oft." And when the objection was made to the Redeemer, that His disciples fasted not, the reply which He made shows clearly that fasting must be considered as a recognized duty even under the Christian dispensation. "Can the children of the bride-chamber fast while the bride