The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-07-28
The
Sunday =SchOOl
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM
MENTS FOR JULY 81.
Subject: A Lesson on Forgiveness,
Matt. 1S:21-35-Commit
Verses Fl, %.

GOLDEN TEXT.-"If you forgive
men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you" Math.
6:14.
TIME.-Autumn, A. d. 29
Place.-Capernaum
EXPOSITION.-I. Seeking For
giveness for Self, 2t-25. Peters
question is exceedingly important and
practical. 1t is question with which
we are all confronted experimentally!
We all have those whom We forgive,
and scarcely have forgiven them be-
fore they offend again. How long
shall they be permitted to keep this
up? Peter suggested seven times as
a possible outside limit. That is FAR
higher than most of us go, but Jesus
multiplied Peters high figures by
seventy, and said there is where you
ought to go, seventy times seven"
Here we have the perfect number,
multiplied by the number of COM
pleteness, multiplied again by the
perfect number. In other words,
never cease forgivlng. Let your pa
thence be inexhaustible and your for
giving love infinite. At the first
glance it seems a hard saying, but as
we continue to look at it, we see 1t
as a most sweet and gentle saying;
for II He bids us to do this to others,
He certainly will Himself do 1t to us.
The parable that follows emphasizes
this gracious truth. / need, then,
never fear again to go to Him, say
ing, Forgive me-" no matter now
often or how seriously | have sinned.
If my heart hesitates, / hear Him
whispering, Until seventy times
seven" (Col. 3:13; Eph. 4:32; 5:1).
Reckoning q talent roughly at Sl2OO,
the kings debtor was twelve mill
ion dollars in debt. And this Is pic
ture of each of us. We are hopeless
ly in debt to God and we have nought
TO pay Gu. 7:42; Ps. 1908; Ez. $50:
Ps. 40:12). 1t is not before an alb
stract law, but before a person, that
we are guilty Cps. 51:4. If we
could only be brought to fully realize
now great our unpaid debt is that is
freely forgiven us, we would surely
not find it hard to forgive others.
The debtor was brought" to the
king. We as sinners do not come
into Gods presence of our own ac-
cord, the Spirit brings us there Ono.
1G:7-9). Verse % pictures Gods
dealings with MS on the ground Of
law (Gal 3:10). But it is only to
bring us to sue for mercy and grace
(Rom. 3:19-24; Gal 3:22-24. The
demand of Just payment brought this
debtor down upon his knees, and that
is where the full demand of law
brings each of us If we are wise. And
vet this debtor fancied he could ulti-
mately pay his debts If he only~had
time. This is true to human expert
ence. When first awakened to
sense of our sins, we still fancy we
can nay some time. We think we
can atone FOR past sins by future good
works. 1t is only after awhile that
It fully dawns upon us that we can
do nothing at all, that salvation must
be not only partly but wholly of grace
(Eph 2:S, 81. In verse 27 we nave
God dealing in grace. Now 1t is all
grace. Just as it was before all law.
"The Lord" does not extend the time
of paying the debt, but fully RENTS
it. God never mixes law and grace
(Gal. SPA; Gal. $40; Rom. 1928;
11:6). The basis of grace is nothing
in us, but something in God, His own
Compassion. The condition upon
which God deals in grace is in us,
viz, that we acknowledge our hope
less Indebtedness and sue for mercy
(cf In. 1913, IA; Rom. 1912, 49,.
IT,. Refusing Forgiveness to An-
other, 28-35. The one who had Just
been forgiven.a twelve-million dollar
debt went right out and tried to vio-
lently exact a debt of seventeen dol
lars from another. That seems in
credible, but 1t Is scene enacted
every day, and by some of the readers
of these lines. God has forgiven you
debts hose greatness defies compu-
tation, and you go out and exact the
paltry debts your fellow-men owe
| you. How many are harboring
| grudges over some petty slight or Of
fence, We should all mediate long
| and deeply over this parable. HIS
debtor acted precisely toward him as
he had acted towards his own cred
ltor, but he remember nothing and
has no mercy. This is true to life.
Others sue us for mercy as we have
made our suit to God, but we have no
mercy for them. Pay the debt 1,
our demand. The outcome is start
ling, "His Lord called him." II we
will not listen TO the cry OF our debt
ors. then we shall hear the voice oil
our creditor. God freely offers Tor
{ R1NeneSS IOr all our SlStVOV,VVV III
debtedness, but If we truly accept II
we will prove it by freely forgiyine
others. If we do not forgive Others
it proves that we have despised the
proffered mercy of God. We are now
back on the law basis, and we shall
be delivered to the tormentors till we
pay "all that is due" That we can
never do, SO our torment will be ever
lasting. There is no mercy for the
man who shows by refusing mercy to
others. he has despised 1t for himself
Gas. 2:13). The only way to learn
to be merciful is by believing in the
mercy of God revealed in Christ to-
ward us q Jno. 4:19. r. W. Jesus
points His own parable, there can be
no mistaking its meaning (see verse
So. There is then no hope for many
a professed Christian. unless they re
pent of their attitude towards some
10 have wronged them. The gate
to hell here pointed out is wide one
and many go In thereat.