Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-04-13
International gessons.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON ", SECOND QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL 20.


Memory Verses, FL, 2e - Golden Text,
Luke vi, 81 Commentary by the Rev.
ID. NJ. Stearns.
copyright, 1898. by D. NJ. Stearns.]
21. "Then came Peter to Him and said:
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against
me, and forgive him? Till seven times?"
1t is so difficult, much as we may read and
talk about it, to believe and live out the
belief that it is no longer that live, but
Christ who liveth in me (Gal. ii, 20). Pc
ter's difficulty here is me" and II" for.
getting the lesson of chapter xvi, "a, about
denying self and following Christ. A bet
ter way Of putting His question would be,
Lord, how often would you forgive one
who would sin against you? 1t should
never be O question Of what would or
would not do, but always what would
Jesus dor Lord, what wilt Thou have me
to do2 AS His redeemed ones, we are here
to manifest His life in these mortal bodies
III Cor. iv, 11) and make Him known.
90 Jesus saith unto him, l say not un-
to thee, Until seven times, but until sew
enty times seven" His thoughts and
ways are as far above ours as heaven is
above the earth. He gives us eternal re.
demption, blotting out all our sins and
assuring us of eternal glory, then teaches
us that we are to overcome self and sin
and the devil, submitting meekly to many
an unjust demand Of the world for His
sake lest we prove q stumbling block.
1927. Therefore is the kingdom OF
heaven likened unto q certain king, which
would take account of his servants" In
these verses we have an illustration from
our Lords own lips Of His forgiveness,
which He freely bestows upon every peni'
tent sinner. The parallels of the kingdom
sometimes have reference to the mystery
of this present age when the kingdom 1t.
self, which was at hand, Is postponed till
He shall come again because of His peo.
ple's rejection of Him Sometimes they
refer to the end of this age and the events
connected Herewith. There is one thing
that all should lay to heart, and that Is
that there is day Of reckoning for every
one, for every one Of us shall give account
of himself to God, for God shall bring ev-
cry work into judgment with every secret
thing whether it be good or whether 1t be
evil (Rom xiv, 12; Feel. xii, l4). The
Judge is appointed, even Him whom God
raised from the dead (Acts xvii, 31), the
same who speaks to us in this parable. l
cannot say that the verses we are consid'
ering refer to any period Of the time of fu'
ture Judgment, but rather to present for
giyeness, for God may be said to be always
in some sense reckoning with people. 1t
seems to me that the main point Of this
part Of the parable is the full and free for
giveness which He bestows upon every
penitent. The debtor was greatly in debt,
owing 10, 900 talents, which, according to
the estimate in the margin, would be over
SO, 600, 900, and he could not pay, as wa
say, cent on the dollar, for he had moth.
ing, yet he was presumptuous enough to
ask for patience, promising to pay all.
His lord, moved with compassion, forgavo
him the whole debt Our Indebtedness to
God for life and care and mercics since We
had any being is beyond computation. II
we should count but one mercy q minute
for only 20 years, they would be over 1O,'
900, ,OOO, but who can estimate the mercies
Of moment?
$3.50. but the same servant went out
and found one of his fellow servants which
owed him an hundred pence. According
to the margin, debt Of not over S25, yet
see his treatment of his fellow as compared
with his lords treatment of him. But do
not condemn him unless you arc sure that
you are not guilty. Mans inhumanity to
man is as marvellous as Gods compassion.
Great as is Gods forgiveness, so great IS
mans lack of it. Have you never said OF
any one, Il cannot forgive him." or I'll
forgive, but cannot forgct?" you have
said such things, you have no right to con-
denim this man. Remember the words OF
our Lord in q certain case, "Hc that il
without sin among you let him first cast n
stone" (John viii, y.
81. $50, when his fellow servants saw
what was done, they were very sorry and
came and told unto their lord all that was
done" In this case there was nothing that
they could do but tell their lord, for he
alone had power to deal with the wicked
servant. But here is an application which
every believer may with profit lay to heart
We, if we have received Christ Jesus as our
Saviour, are truly forgiven, washed, sane
titled, justified, but there are millions who
arc not and who do not know anything
about the Lord Jesus and arc liable to bo
cast forever into the hands Of the great ad'
versary who now oppresses them. Are we
sorry enough for them to say to our Lord
who has saved us: Here am l. Send me to
tell them of Thee and of Thy salvation?'
1884 And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to tho tormentors till he
should pay all that was due unto him. !"
We must not think Of our Lord in this
story as if He was speaking Of Himself,
for we are nowhere taught that He ever
forgives and then takes back His forgive
ness The gifts and calling Of God are
without repentance (Rom. xi, 29). He
never changes His mind We must notice
that our Lord is telling Of certain man
and his servants, and the lord in the story
Is the master of these servants, not our
Lord. See the small letter /, not capital
L. So in the story Of the unjust steward
the question is repeatedly asked, How
could our Lord ever commend such fraudP
Our Lord never did, but the mans master
or lord (small y commended his fraudu-
lent servant for being clever enough to
provide future welcome for himself IT.
the homes of those whom he had befriend'
ed at his lords expense Our Lord taught
that we ought to make such use of present
opportunities lawfully, Of course - as
would be for our benefit in the life to come
s5. $50 likewise shall My Heavenly Fa-
ther do also unto you, If ye from your
hearts forgive not every one his brother
their trespasses In the epistle to the
Ephesians we are taught in the opening
and following words our privileges in
Christ. Blessed with all spiritual bless
ings, accepted in the Beloved, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness Of sins,
seated with Christ in the heavenlies. Then
we arc taught that because Of these great
benefits conferred upon us we should walk
worthy of our vocation, walk in love, walk
ss children Of light, and among other
things forgive one another even as God for