The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-07-29
The Lesson Text in Everyday Dress.

should forgive one who repeatedly
wronged him. and asked If seven times
would be sufficient. Jesus replied, Il
say not unto thee until seven times.
but until seventy times seyen"-that
Is, he should keep on forgiving; or, in
other words, he must continue to ex-
ercise the spirit of forgiveness for
ever, for the time would never come
when he would be justifiable in ad-
hitting malice into his heart. Then
he told parable to explain why one
should always exercise a forgiving
spirit. The kingdom of heaven, he
said, resembles in one of its aspects
q king who called his officials together
to give an account of their admins
tration. Among those who came was,
one who owed him ten thousand tai
ents-somewhere between nine and
fifteen millions of dollars sum
probably representing the revenue OF
a whole province. The man was APP
parently brought a~by feEee-into the
kings presence and came empty
handed. Being unable TO settle the
account, the king ordered him to be
sold together with his wife and chill
dren. Hearing the order. the man
fell on his knees, and, prostratlng
himself before the throne, cried,
Lord. have patience with me. and
will pay thee ALL" The kings heart
was touched, and he not only released
him, but Cancelled the entire debt
But this same man went out, and,
meeting one OF his brother officers
who owed him fifteen or sixteen dol
lars, forgot to do as he had been
done by. and, grasping the man by
the throat, demanded instant payment
at his feet, as he had fallen at the
feet of the king. and begged him TO
have patience, promising TO pay him
all; but the man who had been SO
graciously forgiven refused TO reiehl'
and had him taken TO prison. there 10
remain until he should settle the &C
count When this incident came TO
the ears of the king. he sent for the
man whom he had forgiven, and SAID
to him: 'Oh, thou wicked servant!
l forgave thee all thy debt because
thou besoughtest me; shouldest thou
not have had the same compassion
on thy brother that | had on thee
And the indignant king delivered MN
over to the officers and directed that
he should be tortured until he should
nav ALI that was due TO him. 30
likewise" added Jesus, shall my
Heavenly Father do to you IL you 90
not from your hearts forgive those who
trespass against you"
The Heart of the Lesson.
What Jesus here requires OF his
followers is not that they snail forgive
a greater number OF times than the
world forgiyes. but that they snail
cultivate the spirit of forgiveness.
which keeps no account of the num-
Der of times one has forgiven. II Is
not a question of mathematics; II Is
q question OF love. Love does not
take note OF Its own good deeds or
A. $4 10 "a -
that keeps memorandum ot such
things. 1t Is not enough to forgive
a man seven times or seventy times
secven. What Jesus wants is the
spirit which cherIshes no evil against
any man, which refuses To harbor any
bitterness. and Is always ready and
always seeking to live In love and
charity with all men. There is never
an occasion for asking how often one
shall forgive, when one shall forgive,
for under what circumstances one
shall forgive. The only question Is,
Shall I at any time. or under any
circumstances, or for the smallest
moment, admit into my heart any i'll
feeling towards my neighbor? Never!
says Jesus And he gives us a rea-
son. We. too. are offenders, and we
are looking To God continually for
forgiveness. And he forgives us. II
our Father in heaven, who IS too
heiy to look Upon sin, est, forgive It's.
utterly unworthy as we are, surely we
cannot AFFORD 10 refuse to forgive any
one of his creatures.
II Is sometimes said that We are
not required To forgive others until
they ask our forgiveness. because GOD
does not forgive us until we ask Tor
giveness and God would not require
Tux ttxa 81 hn
who are we that we should thus COM
pare ourselves with God? Who are
we that We should put on such fine
airs and think ourselves so high and
of such dignity that those who Of
fend Ms must fall at our feet and sue
for mercy, as If they had offended
their creator. upon whom they were
dependent for every need? The man
who offends me is my brother-my
equal--uot my servant, who receives
his life and all that he has from my
hands. And I--given as l am to Of
Tending others. and the more given
to offending God himself-why should
/ stand at great distance and curl
the tip with scorn and declare that
/ will not forgive my enemy until he
comes and sues for peace? Why
should j set myself up as superior
being, whose offended dignity can
only be satisfied by the humiliation
of the offender?
But even admitting that we are at
liberty to enthrone ourselves above
our enemies and require them to
come to us and plead for forgive
ness, as we say God requires of his
enemies Il may be further answered
that while God does not pardon those
who refuse to ask for pardon. he
never for single moment cherishes
in his hear the feelings which you
and l are disposed TO cherish against
those whom we refuse to forgive. If
we wish to follow God in the mat
ter OF forgiving our enemies, let us
follow him in this: let us keep from
our hearts all bitterness against the
offender and seek continually, as God
by his Holy Spirit seeks, to win the
offender to our hearts. 1t is true
that Jesus said: IF he repents forgive
him; but he did not lay down repent
ance as the condition of our iorgive-
ness. He was speaking to men who
felt that they had "a right to refuse
Ia forgive after they had, forgiven
the offender the third time. Here
he teaches us that we are not TO cher
ish any ill-feeling against an enemy,
whether he repents or not.
Other Important Truths.
/. In this whole matter mercy Is to
be our guide. We are to be mercifui
to others, even as our Father in
heaven Is merciful to US.
g. Gratitude TO God for his mercy
toward us will move us to be merci-
full toward others. Gratitude for for
giveness will move us to forgive.
g. For a pardoned sinner to refuse