Divine Forgiveness Admired and Imitated

Divine Forgiveness Admired and Imitated

(No. 1841)

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, MAY 17, 1885,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a
quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you."
Colossians 3:13.

To whom is this exhortation addressed? The Apostle told us in the 12th
verse–"Elect of God, holy and beloved." Here are three particulars.
They are, first of all, "elect of God," that is to say, chosen
according to His eternal purpose. They are made choice ones by being
thus chosen. Next, they are sanctified by the Spirit of God and are,
therefore, called "holy"–this holiness appertaining to their persons
and their pursuits, their calling and their conversation. When the
Spirit of God has fully done His work, He sheds abroad in their hearts
the love of God, so that experimentally they feel themselves to be
"beloved." To abide in the love of God is the fruit of election and the
result of holiness. If any of you can, with humble confidence, claim
these three titles, "elect of God, holy and beloved," you are among the
most favored of all mankind! The Father has made of you a special
choice! In you His Holy Spirit has worked a special work and you
possess, within your souls, the special joy of living in the love of
God! "Elect of God, holy and beloved"–it is as you enjoy these three
things that you will find it easy to carry out the precept which is now
set before you, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if
anyone has a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also
do you."

Note in our text, before we proceed to the full discussion of it, what
an honor this Scripture puts upon our Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians
4:32 a similar precept is placed in a rather different form, for it
runs thus–"Even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you." Here, as
if to show the true and proper equality of the Christ with God, it is
written, "Even as Christ forgave you." In the Revised Version they
read, "even as the Lord forgave you," but they place in the margin,
"Many ancient authorities read Christ." In that case we see that Lord
and Christ were interchangeable terms when those ancient authorities
were alive. None can forgive sins but God. He alone forgives against
whom the sin is committed. Sin, therefore, being against Christ and
Christ being able to forgive it, we see that He is exalted on high to
give remission of sins. He shares in the high and royal prerogative of
God, seeing He is able to forgive sin.

Does not this expression seem to say that albeit the Apostle and other
inspired writers had many things to write of, yet one thing was always
upon their hearts, namely, to honor their Lord? Is not this a proof of
how thoroughly they were under the influence of the Spirit of God, of
whom Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me"? Whatever He is teaching,
whatever duty He is enforcing, whatever promise He is delivering, the
Holy Spirit takes care to do it so that the Lord Jesus Christ is
exalted in the hearts of His people! Let us, in our hearts, adore the
Anointed One, Christ Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God–and never let
us hesitate to honor the Son even as we honor the Father. Let us, as
penitents, adore the pardoning Savior, seeing He has power to forgive
sins and has cleansed the myriads of His redeemed from all their
iniquities.

But, Brothers and Sisters, while this gives glory to Christ, what a
weight is lent to the precept, since it is supported by the example and
the authority of our Divine Lord–"Even as Christ forgave you, so also
do you." What a model is set before us! How perfect is that spirit of
love which we are to manifest! Even as Christ forgave us, we are bid to
forgive others. What nobler pattern could have been chosen? Surely He
that trifles with this precept, or thinks it one that is left to our
option–to obey or to neglect–cannot rightly know the dignity of the
Christ in whose pierced hands this Law is held forth before our eyes!
Depend upon it, this command, so wondrously linked with the Person of
the pardoning Christ, is of no common importance. If the Law given by
Moses was so solemnly binding, what shall we say of this Law which is
embodied in the life of the Lord Jesus?

Surely I shall scarcely need to plead with you, who are His disciples,
that you give your heart's best attention to such teaching! Your Lord,
Himself, stands before you! You remember how He forgave you all your
trespasses? Then I am sure you will give earnest heed to His
exhortation to forgive. May the dove-like Spirit now brood over this
assembly and create love in all our bosoms.

Two things are to be done. First, let us study the pattern of
forgiveness here set before us. And then, secondly, let us copy it for
ourselves in our forgiveness of those who trespass against us.

I. Carefully STUDY THE PATTERN OF FORGIVENESS set before us in the
text. "Even as Christ forgave you, so also do you." What is this
forgiveness of Christ? You know how He exhibited it in His daily life.
He was much tried, but He was never provoked to wrath. Both by friends
and by enemies He was made to suffer, yet He neither accused the one
nor the other to His great Father. He never reviled those who reviled
Him, but patiently yielded to their malice, giving His back to the
smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. His disciples
He gently rebuked, but He never spoke to them in anger. A life of
forgiveness was crowned by His dying prayer for His persecutors,
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." He loved His
enemies. He lived for His enemies. He died for His enemies. He was
Incarnate gentleness, the mirror and paragon of forgiveness.

Observe, also, that He forgave offenses most great and grievous. It was
a horrible thing that when the Lord Jesus came into the world, moved by
pure love, He was not welcomed, but Herod sought to slay the young
Child. Afterwards, when He appeared publicly among men, the Jews took
up stones to stone Him. He was treated with contumely. His miracles
were ascribed to the devil and His holy and unspotted Character was
traduced by His being called a drunk and a winebibber. He was the
firstborn of the Lord of the vineyard, but when the husbandmen saw Him,
they said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill Him and the inheritance
shall be ours." You know with what scornful cruelty they treated Him in
the hour of His passion. What could the malice of Hell have invented
more contemptuous and cruel than that which men used towards the
Well-Beloved? Had He been the basest of beings, His sufferings would
have been too cruel. Men did all they could against Him.

Say not that you have never thus transgressed. Oh, Sirs, we, also, have
crucified Him, for our sins were laid upon Him by Jehovah. We, also,
must confess, "He was despised and we esteemed Him not." There was a
time when we, who are now His followers, once "hid, as it were, our
faces from Him." He called us, but we gave Him no answer! He wooed us,
but we were blind to His beauties! We can never remember this without
deep emotions of regret. We used no other friend so evilly. We
crucified Him and slew Him, as far as we were able to do it, by our
rejection of His love. And yet He has forgiven us! He is ready to
forgive all such as seek His face. Oh, the splendor of that love which
blots out sins like ours! What a flood of Grace is this which rises
above the tops of the mountains of our sins and covers them forever!

It matters not how black or crimson our transgressions may have been,
the moment we come to Jesus He makes us whiter than snow! He puts away
the most horrible of offenses, the most glaring of transgressions in a
moment! He says, "I forgive you. Go and sin no more"–and we, then and
there–receive a perfect pardon! I would that all of you who have never
sought that Grace would be induced by this blessed fact to come with
all your sins and receive immediate absolution from the hand of your
Lord!

Remember, also, to increase your wonderment at His forgiveness, that
these offenses which were committed against Christ were altogether
wanton and unprovoked. He could demand of His adversaries, "For which
of those works do you stone Me?" Towards no man had He acted unjustly
or even harshly. He had been all tenderness and lowliness in every
place towards all sorts of men–and yet certain men became incensed
against Him because of His goodness! Did they refuse to love Him
because He was altogether lovely? Did they despise Him because He was
so truly great? Such is the depravity of the human heart, that the very
virtues of Christ provoked the hostility of men! What has my Lord
Christ ever done against any of you? Why do you refuse Him?

I have heard many a man say, "If I had done anything whatever to
provoke this ill-will, I could account for it, but they persecute me
wrongfully." It was pre-eminently so in the case of our Lord, who says
in the Psalm, "They hated Me without a cause." Yet He forgave this
wanton malice! He continues to forgive such causeless wrong. With His
own blood, He blots out horrible insults against Himself, His people,
His Gospel and His love. Even you who oppose His Kingdom and refuse His
service shall be, at once, forgiven, if you will bow your hearts before
Him and accept that rich mercy which

His hand is so ready to bestow! See what a pattern is here of the
passing-by of the greatest and most malicious offenses! How can hatred
live in the Presence of such love?

Christ has shown this pardon to the most unworthy persons. Of all whom
He forgave when He was here below, none deserved such kindness. In
fact, to talk of deserving forgiveness is a contradiction in terms!
Certainly in me–and I have no doubt in you, my Brothers and
Sisters–who have tasted of His infinite mercy, there was no presence
of claim to His mercy in our cases. If He had left us in our sin. If He
had passed by us and allowed us to perish, what complaint could we have
brought against Him? Since He loved us and forgave us, it must have
been because of something within Himself–it could not have been from
anything in us! We are unworthy, but He is gracious–and herein He
teaches us to pardon the most provoking and worthless of those who
trespass against us.

Be it never forgotten that He always had the power to have executed
vengeance upon any one of us if He had been pleased to do so. Some men
pardon because they cannot punish–they are too weak to execute
vengeance and, therefore, they refrain from it. Half the forgiveness in
the world comes from a feeble hand rather than from a forgiving heart.
But the Christ could have crushed His adversaries in a moment if He had
willed it, and yet He freely forgave! When they said, "Come down from
the Cross"–suppose He had instantly loosed the nails and leaped among
them–where had they been, then? They would have begged the rocks to
fall upon them and the mountains to cover them from His face if He had
but manifested the glory of His power! But He was not provoked to leave
the Cross, or to break the silence of His passion by so much as a
rebuke. Mercy was stored like honey in His heart and pardon dropped its
sweetness from His lips.

The Lord has been greatly long-suffering with ourselves when a breath
might have destroyed us. We might easily have been destroyed in
accidents which befell us, or we might have died in our various
sicknesses and so have sunk to the lowest Hell. But instead of slaying
us, our Lord even interposed to spare us–to spare us when our life was
rebellion! When He could so easily have blotted out our lives, He did
not do so, but in boundless mercy blotted out our sins. Let us magnify
His amazing Grace and imitate it in our lives.

I want you, for a moment, to consider the question, How did He forgive?
The manner of our Lord's forgiveness is as noteworthy as the pardon,
itself. The Lord Jesus came and pardoned us when that act of Grace was
unsolicited! Before we had thought of mercy, He had thoughts of mercy
toward us! I remember reading in one of our magazines a story of a city
missionary who discovered a poor girl who had wandered from the ways of
virtue. He had sought to restore her to a better life. He spoke with
her till she became somewhat tender of heart. He enquired about her
family and learned that she had once enjoyed a happy home and had known
a tender father's love. "But he would never look at me now," she said.
"I am sure he never would–I am such a degraded creature that I could
not venture near his door." "Have you never written to him?" "No, I
could not write to him. It would be of no use. I could not expect him
to send me an answer and it would break my heart to be refused."

"We will try," said the good man, "we will write to him." He wrote to
the father and the next post brought back an answer, with the word,
"Immediate," written upon the envelope. The sum of the letter enclosed
within was, "Ready to forgive." She was taken to her father. She was
soon locked in his embrace. All was forgiven–the wanderer was
restored! Notice that her father had been praying for her, night and
day, ever since she left his roof–and he had longed to receive her to
his home again. Her seeking his forgiveness did not cause it–it was in
his heart long before–and no doubt it was because of his cries and
tears that God, in mercy, touched his girl's heart and brought her
home. O Sinner, before you think of Christ, He has thoughts of love
towards you! He says, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your
transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return unto Me; for I have
redeemed you." The forgiveness is first and the returning to the Lord
is urged as a consequence of that forgiveness! Pardon is not first in
the matter of our personal experience, but it is first as matter of
fact with God. Oh! the mercy of the Lord Christ, that before we know
our sin, He has made atonement for it by His own precious blood!

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be held up as an example of pardoning love
for the true and hearty way in which He forgives sin. Forgiveness, when
it comes from human lips in measured, studied phrases, is not worth
having, for the heart is not in it, or it would be more free and
joyful. The Lord Jesus Christ absolves sinners with all His heart. He
never acts in a cold, formal manner. Never does He outwardly forgive
and in secret retain His wrath–but wholly, entirely, joyfully, He puts
away the sin of those whom He forgives–and puts it away forever! When
He forgives, He forgives the whole of our faults, follies, failures and
offenses. There is a certain solidarity about sin, so that it makes up
one lump. I read the other

day of a certain theologian speaking of Christ having put away original
sin while He left actual sin. Nonsense! Sin is one and indivisible!
Iniquity is not to be done up in separate parcels. The sin, the
iniquity of men, is spoken of in the Bible as one thing. Although we
sin multitudes of times, the various streams all flow into one sea of
evil–when sin is forgiven, all sin is put away–not a shred, nor
fragment, nor particle remains! The Lord Jesus drowns all the hosts of
sin in the depths of the sea and the whole of our guilt is swallowed up
forever. This is great forgiveness, indeed! Glory be to Him who gives
it! Let us follow Him in His truth and heartiness.

This forgiveness, again, is given by the Lord Jesus Christ in the most
complete possible manner. He keeps no back reckonings. He retains no
reserves of anger. He so forgives that He forgets. That is the wonder
of it! He says, "I will not remember your sins." He casts them behind
His back–they are wholly and completely gone from His observation or
regard. Alas, such is poor human nature that even fathers, when they
have forgiven a wayward child, will, perhaps, throw the offense in his
teeth years after when he again offends. But it is never so with
Christ. He says, "Your sins shall not be mentioned against you any
more, forever." He has done with the sins of His people in so effectual
a way that not a whisper concerning them shall ever come from His mouth
so as to grieve them. They will, themselves, remember their sins with
deep repentance, but the Lord will never challenge them on account of
their past rebellions. Blessed be the name of Christ for such complete
forgiveness as this!

The Lord Jesus Christ forgives His people in a continuous manner. He
forgave us long ago–He still forgives us. He does not forgive and
afterwards accuse. His forgiveness is eternal. It is not a reprieve He
gives to you, believing ones, but a free pardon, under the King's hand
and seal, which shall effectually protect you from accusation and
punishment. "In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the
iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and
the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them
whom I reserve." He has finished transgression, made an end of sin and
brought in everlasting righteousness. Send to Hell a pardoned sinner?!
It were a contradiction to the very nature of God! Condemn those for
whom Jesus died?! Why, the Apostle mentions that death as a conclusive
answer to the challenge, "Who is he that condemns? It is Christ who
died, yes, who is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us." How shall He intercede for us and
yet accuse us? It is impossible for Christ to be both Redeemer and
Condemner to the same persons. So perfect is His pardon that our sin
has ceased to be! He has put away sin forever by the sacrifice of
Himself.

Greatly do I admire the very gracious way in which that pardon is
given. Some people offer forgiveness in an ungracious way. They make it
appear that they are coming down from such awful heights when they
forgive a fellow mortal. In great dignity they march down in state from
their own splendid innocence to the poor Brother who has done them a
wrong–as good as saying, "I will condescend to do this, though it is
an awful stoop for such an angelic being as I am." You never feel that
about the Christ, for He places His pardon down so low that He seems to
say, "Receive My mercy, I beg you to receive it." He speaks as if He
were favored by a sinner's accepting His forgiveness! He humbles
Himself and never scalds a sinner with scornful pity.

Though the Christ condescends more than all the condescensions of all
men put together, "for worms were never raised so high above their
meanest fellow worms," yet the condescension is so real and royal that
there is no ostentation in it! He is born to the manner–He condescends
naturally, like condescension's own self. Some are most proud when they
stoop, but Jesus graciously seems to put Himself on a level with us,
yes, and even to go lower than we are, that He may lift us up! Admire
as much the way in which Christ forgives as the forgiveness which He
bestows. It breaks my heart to think what a loving Christ He was to me
when I sought His forgiveness. Truly, "He gives liberally and upbraids
not"–He frowned and thundered when I looked to my own
righteousness–but when I turned to His Gospel of Free Grace, I had
from Him not even a hard word–He was all love and tenderness to me,
the chief of sinners!

Above all, the greatness of His forgiveness is seen in the fact that
the offense had brought great trouble into the world and He bore that
trouble. The sinner, by his wrong doing, had subjected himself to great
loss and calamity. Now, when we forgive a person who has done us a
wrong, we say, "I freely forgive you, but you have involved yourself in
certain consequences which you will have to bear, and out of these I
cannot help you." Our blessed Master seemed to say, Sinner, you have
sinned yourself under the curse of God. You have sinned yourself into
misery and into death–and as the proof that I do freely forgive you–I
will take all this suffering and this death upon Myself. You have done
the wrong wantonly and wickedly, but I will bear the consequences. You
have knotted the whips, but they shall scourge My shoul-

ders. You have sharpened the nails, but they shall pierce My hands and
feet. You have put yourself under curse and penalty, but I will bear
the curse of death that you may be free."

Was there ever mercy like this? Do not all who know this love accept it
gladly? Sinner, do you not know this? Have you never heard about it?
Know you not that the Lord, even Jesus, the Son of God, is able to
forgive you all your tres-passes–that it will be a joy to His heart to
do so–and to do it at once? Oh, that before that clock shall strike
again you may be able to say, "There is, therefore, now no
condemnation, for Christ has put away my sin." This is not according to
the manner of men–it is Godlike! It is a sure proof that Jesus is the
Son of God, for who could act like this but One who is Himself the Son
of God?

Thus have I set before you, in my poor way, this great forgiveness and
the manner of it. I trust you have had an experience of it. Assuredly
we all need such forgiveness–do any of you deny it? May the Holy
Spirit open your blind eyes and melt your hard hearts. According to the
text, those who have received pardon know that they have it, for Paul
speaks positively–"Even as Christ forgave you"–as if it were a matter
of fact well known among the people of God. There is a theory abroad
that we may be forgiven and not know it–that Jesus may forgive and we
may never discover it until we come to our dying moments. That is a
wretched kind of Gospel! By the true Gospel we may know we are forgiven
and be sure of it–surer than if we saw, written by the autograph of
Christ, the words–"I have forgiven you." The eyes may deceive, but the
witness of the Spirit of God within the heart can never delude us! If
you believe that Jesus is the Christ and if you are resting, alone, on
Him, your sins, which are many, are forgiven you, "for the blood of
Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." In knowing that we
are forgiven by Christ, let us be clear and decided in our forgiveness
of others–not only in word–but in deed and in truth let us exhibit a
forbearing spirit.

II. You see your example. Our second word is, COPY IT FOR YOURSELVES.
If the Holy Spirit enables you to write according to this copy, you
will have the approval of the Lord resting upon you. See how large and
clear the letters are! It will be no small success if you can reproduce
them. "Even as Christ forgave you"–the imitation should be as exact as
possible. Mark the, "even," and the, "so," and endeavor to keep up with
your gracious Lord.

Notice, however, in the text, that this precept concerning the
imitation of Christ in forgiveness is universally applicable. The text
is not long, but see how unqualified is its range. "Forbearing one
another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a quarrel against
any." You see it is not put that superiors are to forgive inferiors,
or, on the other hand, that the less are to forgive the greater–but
the circle of the command includes the whole! It is, "forbearing one
another." The rich are to be forbearing to the poor. The poor are to be
forbearing to the rich. The elderly man is to forgive the junior for
his imprudence. The junior is to bear with the petulance and slowness
of the elder. It is an all-round business, implying that one of these
days I shall have to forgive you and you will have to forgive me!

Personally, I tax your forbearance to put up with me and I need not say
that, sometimes, I have need to exercise forbearance towards one and
another in so large a Church! We have all our own angles and edges and
these are apt to come into contact with others. We are all pieces of
one puzzle and shall fit in with each other one day and make a complete
whole. But just now we seem misshapen and unfitting. Our corners need
to be rounded. Sometimes they are chipped off by collision with
somebody else and that is not comfortable for the person with whom we
collide. Like pebbles in the river of the Water of Life, we are wearing
each other round and smooth as the living current brings us into
commun-ion–everybody is polishing and being polished–and in the
process it is inevitable that some present inconvenience should be
sustained. But nobody must mind it, for it is part of a great process
by which we shall all come into proper shape and be made meet for
endless fellowship.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another"–you see it has two
sides. "Ah," says one, "I cannot understand it. People ought to be far
more forbearing to me." Just so, but the first point is that you should
be forgiving towards them. What numbers of Church members think that
the duties of a Church are all one-sided. "I was ill and nobody came to
see me." "Did you send for anybody to see you?" "No, I did not."
Brother, before you find fault, remember your own fault–you have
violated the command, "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the
elders of the Church." "But nobody exhibits Christian love," says one.
Is that true ofyourself? I have noticed that the man who says that love
is dead is usually rather short of love, himself. How very different
the Church looks to different eyes–one sees a thousand virtues to
admire–and another a world of evil to expose! One gratefully cries,
"When I was ill, the dear Brethren came to see me so often that I had
to ask them not to stay very long." Another grumbles, "I might have
laid there a month and

nobody would ever have come near me." We understand the reason for this
difference–the tone of the speech is the key to the riddle. As a rule,
with what measure we mete, it is measured to us. I do not find Christ's
people to be one half so faulty as I am, myself. I meet with many
Christians whom I think it an honor to know and commune with–and those
of another sort are useful to me as warnings and as fields for
exercising my Graces. The forgiveness and the forbearance are needed
all round and we must both give and take. By the sweet love of Jesus,
let us not fail in this business.

Let me say, here, that this matter is an absolutely essential one–this
forbearance and this forgiveness are vital. Be not deceived, God is not
mocked! No man is a child of God who has not a likeness to God and no
man is forgiven who will not, himself, forgive. In the Middle Ages a
certain baron had a feud with another nobleman and determined to avenge
himself for some insult, real or imaginary. His enemy was to pass by
the castle with a small retinue and, therefore, the baron determined to
waylay him and kill him, or, at least, to punish him severely and exact
a ransom. A holy man who lived in the castle begged and entreated the
baron to forbear from bloodshed and make peace. But, for some time, he
pleaded in vain. The baron would not be appeased, but swore that he
would be avenged of his adversary. So this godly man begged one favor
of him, namely, that he would come with him into the chapel and offer
prayer before he sallied

forth.

They knelt together in prayer and before they rose the saintly man
said, "My lord, repeat after me the Lord's Prayer." He went on saying,
word by word, as the other did, till he came to that, "Forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us." There the
good man stopped and said, "I charge you not to say this unless you
really mean it! Do not mock the Lord! You may not go out and fight if
you thus speak with God. You will have to appear before God and be
judged for your sins, for you will not be forgiven if you do not
forgive. Choose, then, either to utter this prayer and forgive and be
saved, or to refuse the prayer and go forth to battle and be lost." The
baron paused and bit his lips but, at last his better spirit prevailed
and he cried, "I cannot renounce my hope of Heaven! I cannot renounce
my hope of forgiveness! Therefore my enemy shall pass by my castle in
safety and I will say, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them
that trespass against us.'"

Do not attempt to deceive God! If you must lie and cheat, practice your
impositions upon your fellow men, but do not imagine that you can
flatter your Maker or deceive the Omniscient One! If you will not
forgive, say so, and expect eternal perdition! But if you profess to be
a Christian, obey this great and essential precept and forgive as
Christ forgave you! Be honest, be straight with God, for He will be
honest and straight with you. But if you cannot and will not forgive,
then look forward to a portion with the tormentors, for even the loving
Jesus says, "Neither shall My heavenly Father forgive you."

In urging you to this copying of Christ, let me notice that this
forgiveness of those who offend against us is gloriously ennobling. We
are not asked to perform a duty which will, in the least, degrade us.
Revenge is paltry–forgiveness is great-minded. Was not David
infinitely greater than Saul when he spared his life in the cave and
when he would not kill him as he lay asleep on the battlefield? Did not
the king humble himself before David when he perceived David's
forbearance? If you would be the greatest among men, bear injuries with
the greatest gentleness! If you would win the noblest of conquests,
subdue yourself! To win a battle is a little thing if it is fought out
with sword and gun. But to win it in God's way, with no weapons but
love, patience and forgiveness–this is the most glorious of victories!
Blessed is that man who is more than a conqueror because he inflicts no
wounds in the conflict, but overcomes evil with good! In the process of
such a conquest the warrior is, himself, a gainer.

A nation in fighting, even if it wins the campaign, has to suffer great
expense and loss of life. But he that overcomes by love is the better
and stronger man through what he has done. He comes out of the conflict
not only victor over his adversary, but victor over sin within
himself–and all the readier for future war against evil. He glorifies
God and, he, himself, becomes strong in Divine Grace. Nothing is more
glorious than love! Your Master, who is King of kings, set you an
example of gaining glory by enduring wrong. If you would be knights of
His company, imitate His graciousness.

Notice that this imitation of Christ is logically appropriate to you
all. Brothers and Sisters, if Christ has forgiven you, the parable we
read just now shows that it is imperative that you should forgive your
fellows. If our Lord has forgiven us our 10,000 talents, how can we
take our brother by the throat for the 100 pence and say, "Pay me what
you owe"? If we are, indeed, members of Christ, should we not be like
our Head? If we profess to be His servants, are we to pretend to a

dignity greater than our Master, who washed His disciples' feet? If He
forgave so freely, how dare we call ourselves His brethren if our
spirit is hard and malice lingers within us?

I say, to conclude, that this copying of Christ is most forcibly
sustained by the example given in the text. We are to forbear and to
forgive. "Even as Christ forgave you, so also do you." I have heard it
said, "If you pass by every wanton offense and take no notice of it,
you will come to be despised and regarded as a person of mean
spirit–your honor demands vindication." When Christ forgave you, did
His honor suffer by that forgiveness? You transgressed most wickedly
and yet He forgave you–do you regard Him as less honorable because of
that readiness to pass by offenses? Far from it–it is His Glory to
forgive! The hallelujahs of saints and the songs of angels are sent up
to His Throne the more heartily because of the richness of His Grace
and the freeness of His mercy! Dishonor, indeed! What pride it is on
the part of such poor creatures as we are to talk about our honor!
Where is the honor of revenge? It is a dishonorable thing to put
yourself on the level of him who injures you.

A heathen philosopher used to say, "If an ass kicks you, is it
necessary for the maintenance of your honor to kick that ass, also?"
That speech looks like a noble one, but yet it is too much flavored
with contempt. When you speak, or even think of another who has wronged
you as though he were only worthy to be regarded as a beast, you are
not right in spirit–a degree of evil remains in your heart. Think of
the offender without contempt as well as without resentment! Believe
that he is a brother worth winning. Say, "If he does me an injury, for
that very reason I will do him a double service. My only vengeance
shall be double love. I will not allow myself to even think harshly of
him. I will put the best possible construction on all that he does and
thus show that the spirit of Christ is in me, conquering the spirit of
fallen humanity both in me and in him."

Says one, "If we always overlook offenses, other people may also be
tempted to do us wrong." Our text furnishes us with a ready answer to
this. The Lord Jesus Christ forgave you. Have you met anybody who has
been tempted to do wrong because the Lord has forgiven you? He has
freely forgiven myriads of poor unworthy sinners and has that promoted
sin? No. Is it not the very groundwork and case of holiness in the
world, that Jesus is so gracious as to pardon sin? Why, then, should
your forbearance do harm? Do not pretend to be so very wise, for
therein you censure your Master! You are not the ruler of the world. It
is not for you to be refraining from good for fear that evil may come
of it–attend to your own ways–forgive everyone his brother his
trespasses and leave consequences with God.

"Oh, but," says one, "I know several pious persons who are very
unforgiving." You do not know any really good man who is of that
character! I make bold to say that no man is really good if he has not
a forgiving spirit. Unwillingness to forgive is a grievous flaw in
anyone's character. But if there were such good people, what have you
to do with them? Is the servant to imitate his fellow servant,
especially in his faults? The example set before you is, "Even as
Christ forgave you." You have nothing to do with either saints or
sinners in this matter! Your Lord says to you, "What is that to you?
Follow Me." Perhaps you do not know all the story which you think
proves that a good man has been unforgiving–and if you do know it, you
are no judge of others. Mind your own business and even "as Christ
forgave you, so also do you."

Bur I hear another one saying, "These persons would not have forgiven
me." Just so, but then you are a child of God–you are, "elect, holy
and beloved." You are not to lower your standard to that of publicans
and sinners. Does not Christ continually say, "What do you more than
others? Do not even the publicans and the sinners the same?" "If you
love them that love you, what thanks have you?" But if you love them
that despitefully use you, then blessed are you when men shall
persecute you! In that case you have an opportunity of showing your
love to your Lord. When Dr. Duff first read to some young Brahmins in
the Government school the precept, "Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you," one of the Brahmins cried out with delight,
"Beautiful! Beautiful! This must have come from the true God. I have
been told to love those that love me and I have not always done
that–but to love my enemies is a Divine thought." That young man
became a Christian under the influence of that precept. Do not darken
this Light of God , but be sure to display it in your life, that many
may be attracted to Christ by its luster. Let your goodwill go forth
even to the worst of men, for Christ's sake. Forget their evil as you
behold His goodness.

"Well," says one, "I would forgive the fellow, but he does not deserve
it." That is why you are to forgive him! If he deserved it, you would
be bound to do him the justice which he could claim. But, as he does
not deserve it, you have, here, an appeal to your Christian love. Does
not your heavenly Father give good things to the unthankful and to the
evil? Did

not Jesus forgive the undeserving when He forgave you? Does He not
overlook our wretched characters when He has mercy upon us?

I hear one say, "I cannot forgive!" That is a terrible confession. The
Apostle of the Gentiles said, "I can do all things through Christ which
strengthens me." Is not the same strength available for you? Some
persons find forgiving and forgetting to be hard work, but, as you are
bound to do it, or stay out of Heaven, you must cry to God for help and
set about it with determination. If you are, indeed, a child of God,
you will soon find the difficulty gone. Indeed, forgiveness will become
easy to you! To be forgiven is such sweetness that honey is tasteless
in comparison with it! But there is one thing still sweeter–and that
is to forgive. As it is more blessed to give than to receive, so to
forgive rises a stage higher in experience than to be forgiven. To be
forgiven is, as it were, the root–to forgive is the flower. That
Divine Spirit, who bears witness with our spirit when He breathes peace
into us because we are pardoned, bears yet a higher witness with us
when He enables us to truly pardon all manner of trespasses against
ourselves!

Let it never be said, in a Christian Church, that members bear a grudge
against one another. I do not know that it is so in your
case–assuredly it should not be so anywhere. Let it not be said of any
Christian man that he is unloving, ready to take offense, apt to bear
malice, or quick to anger. Cultivate forbearance till your heart yields
a fine crop of it. Pray for a short memory as to all unkindnesses. I
bless God that I know a man who finds it easy to forgive and to forget
all offenses against himself. He takes no credit for so doing, for no
one ever offends him in a way which is worth remembering. That man has
been reminded again and again of the misbehavior of unreasonable and
unkind men, but he has honestly said, "I had quite forgotten it." He
does not claim this forgetfulness as a virtue, for as a matter of fact
his memory has become weak in that direction and he has no desire to
strengthen it. He has never tried to recollect unkindnesses and now, by
long disuse, his memory happily fails him upon such matters! That man
has often enjoyed exquisite pleasure in doing good to those who have
injured him–and he can truly say that, at this moment, he bears no
ill-will to any soul upon this earth.

He does not think this to be any singular attainment, for his belief is
that every follower of Jesus should be of the same mind. Do you not
think the same? I am sure I do. I heard this man once say of another,
"He spoke against me that which was false, but if he had known more
about me, he might have said something far worse and have been nearer
the truth. Perhaps my false accuser believed what he said and thought
he was doing a right thing in protesting against what he thought was my
fault. At any rate, no one can harm my character, unless I do so
myself." It is a wise thing to profit by every accusation, whether true
or false, by trying to be better!

Let us so live as to be able to say, "I am as much at peace with all
men as a new-born child." Thus shall we wear the mark of the Spirit of
God. In a word, my Brothers and Sisters–"Even us Christ forgave you,
so also do you." Amen.

PORTION OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Matthew 18.
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