The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-06-11
THE RIGHT WAY,
Or the Gospel Applied to Intercourse Be-
tween Individuals and Naions.
BY REV. JOSEPH A. COLLIER.
(COntinued.)

49,
BY REV. JOSEPH A. COLLIER.
(COntinued.)
IT. 1t may be objected to the gospe
method, that there are aggravated
cases of injury, to which it is not ap
plicable. Admitting its business with
reference to the ordinary and lesser oc.
casions of strife. is there not "a point,
beyond which forbearance ceases to bt
a virtue?" 1t may be said, l am will
ing to forgive slight injuries but there
are those Of graver character, which
must not be overlooked. Such, for i'll.
stance, are deliberate prosecutions. long
persisted in, and marked with constant
efforts for my ruin. The sum of the
objection would amount to this "The
principle of the right way is good-it
is divine but the extent to which it is
to be practiced is IN an inverse ratio to
the enormity Of the offence. The great.
er the injury, the less it is TO be forgiv-
Ell. If an enemy hate me but little, l
AM to love him; if great deal, l ain
justified in hating him"
Those who make use Of this objcc-
ton, either widely mistake the charac-
ter of the gospel precepts, or do not
obey them at all for they have di-
rect reference to the grOsscr and more
aggravated kinds of trespuss and in
this fact lies their chief value. Peter
says, "For this is thankwortlly, if a
man for conscience toward God endure
grief, suffering aOronNfuhy. For what
is it, if, when We be bufleted for your
faults, we shall take it patiently? but
if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye
take it patiently, this is acceptable
with Cod" Peter . D.: 10, 20. Itlove,
meckness, and forgiveness be duties,
the fact that the injury is severe and
undcserved, so far from absolving us
from them, only demands that they be
the more thoroughly and earnestly dis
charged.
This objection is put at rest by the
example of those who are held up in
the Scriptures for our imitation. The
case of the martyr Stephen was surely
all aggravated one, for his enemies
We're stoning him to death. Yet he
did not deem this a sufficient reason
for cherishing one bitter feeling to-
wards them, but prayed with his last
breath, "Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge" Acts : 80. What grosscr
indignities can be imagined than those
that were hcaped upon Christ? Be
trayed, scOurged, spit upon, crucified-
not all this accumulation Of injuries
could eXtort from him a whisper of
resentment, or prevent his firm, hearty
utterance of the prayer, "Father, for
give them I" Who can estimate the
enornlity Of every sinners offences
against God? Are they not thous-
and-fold more aggravated than any we
can commit against one another? Yet
hear God saying, "Though your sins
he rs scarlet, they shall he as white us
snow; though they he rcd like GRIM
son, they shall be as wool" ls;. IS.
Here is our standard. When we are re-
quired TO exercise forgiveness and
long-sutfering greater than these, it
will be time enough to hesitate; but
let not those who are daily the objects
Of 4 forbearance SO great that only God
could exercise it, attempt nicely TO as
sign the limit beyond which ''forbcar-
ance ceases TO be a virtue" and hate to
he Il crime. We are not warranted in
the belief that there is any such limit.
The maxim just quoted was never de-
rived from Gods word, nor from the
example of God or Christ.
III. Another and plausible ohjcc-
ton TO the right way is, that its y),0c-
lice 'rouid Or|y subject as to ycf grcdtcr
injuries.