Once Jesus with his friends withdrew, And can the mournful words be true? And shall I foolishly expect The blessed Lord was slain. If he who all his sufferings knew, Full soon my griefs shall all be past, Since Christ has died for me; And brighter joys that ever last LESSON FOURTH. MATTHEW XVIII. 21.-35. THEN came Pe-ter un-to Je-sus, and said "Lord, how oft shall my bro-ther sin against me and I for-give him? till sev-en times ?" Je-sus saith un-to him, "I say not un-to thee, un-til sev-en times, but until sev-en-ty times sev-en. There-fore is the king-dom of heav-en li-ken-ed to a cer-tain king, which would take ac-count of his ser-vants: and when he had be-gun to reck-on, one was brought un-to him, which ow-ed him ten thou-sand tal-ents. But for-as-much as he had no-thing to pay, his Lord com-mand-ed him to be sold, and his wife, and chil-dren, and all that he had, and pay-ment to be made. The servant there-fore fell down and wor-ship-ped him, say-ing, 'Lord, have pa-tience with me, and I will pay thee all.' Then the lord of that ser-vant was mov-ed with com-pas-sion, and loos-ed him, and for-gave him the debt. But the same ser-vant went out, and found one of his fel-low-ser-vants, which ow-ed him a hun-dred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, say-ing, Pay me that thou ow-est.' And his fel-low-ser-vant fell down at his feet and be-sought him, say. ing, 'Have pa-tience, and I will pay thee all.' And he would not, but went and cast him in-to pris-on, till he should pay the debt: so when his fel-low-ser-vants saw what was done, they were ye-ry sor ry, and came and told un-to their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had call-ed him, said un-to him, 'O thou wick-ed ser-vant, I for-gave thee all that debt, be-cause thou de-sir-edst me: should-est not thou al-so have had compas-sion on thy fel-low-ser-vant, e-ven as I had pi-ty on thee?' And his lord was wroth, and de-liv-er-ed him to the tor. ment-ors, till he should pay all that was due un-to him. So likewise shall my heav-en-ly Fa-ther do al-so un-to you, if ye from your hearts for-give not ev-er-y one his bro-ther their tres-pass-es." QUESTIONS. What question did Peter ask our Saviour? "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times ?" What did our Lord answer? "I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven.' What was our Lord's meaning? That there should be no limit or end to our forgiveness. How did our Lord proceed to show the necessity of this duty? By the parable of a servant who owed his lord ten thousand talents, and could not pay. Did his lord forgive him? Yes. What did the servant do? He laid hands on his fellow-servant, who owed him one hundred pence, saying, "Pay me that thou owest." Did his fellow-servant pay him? No: he was unable to do so: but begged him to have patience with him, and he would pay him all. Had the servant patience with him? No: he threw him into prison till he could pay the debt. What happened when his lord heard of it? He was very wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him. Who do you think is meant by the lord of these servants? God. Who are meant by the servants? Our Lord's answer to Peter, when he asked how often he must forgive his brother when he sinned against him, shows that we must always be ready to pardon others; hence we learn how much greater the offences are which we commit against God, than those which our fellow-creatures commit against us. God is our Master, and we sin against him every day of our lives, yet when we repent he has promised to forgive us. If God so loves us, we ought also to love one another. You read in this lesson that our Saviour said that if we forgive not men their trespasses, neither will our Father in heaven forgive our trespasses: how then can we implore God to forgive us when our hearts are full of anger and unkindness? We must not be |