3. T he i n d i g n a nt fellow servants. ( 1 ) They saw the wickedness; (2) were sorry to see it; (3) went and lodged a complaint, as men ought to do, bring- ing to j u d gme nt g r a ft a nd cruel oppres- sion. 4. The" righteous judge. (1) T he s ummo n s; (2) the charge, (a) " t h ou wicked," (b) "I forgave," (c) " at your desire," (d) "I had pity, you had none." (3) The sentence, torment, till payment. V. HOW I T IS L I KE T HE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 1. (1) God is t he K i ng (Ps. 4 7 : 2 ); (2) we are the debtors (Mt. 6 : 1 2 ) ; (3) sin is the debt (Lk. 1 1 : 4 ); (4) it is enormous, a million for each of t he ten c omma n dme n ts (see IV, 1, above) and more. Rockefeller could not pay it (Ps. 4 9 : 7 ); (5) wives and children are involved (Ex. 2 0 . 5 ); (6) t he ac- counting day is coming (Ac. 1 7 : 3 1 ); (6) the merciful shall find mercy (Mt. 5 : 7 ) ; t he t o rme n ts await the unmerci- f ul (Mt. 25:45, 46; Rev. 2 0 : 1 0 ). 2. (1) "So likewise," i. e., such a f a te awaits the unforgiving (2) unless " f r om t he h e a r t ," not merely with lips; not if our mercy is " s t r a i n e d "; not if we say, "I forgive b ut I can't f o r g e t "; " a s f ar as t he east is f r om t he west (Ps. 1 0 3 : 1 2) so f a r " we mus't remove t he b r o t h e r 's transgressions f r om us; (3) "every one (every one of) his b r o t h e r 's trespasses." I. CHRISTMAS PROMISED. 1. This happy day h as been cele- brated f r om the beginning. Ab r a h am joyed to see it (Jno. 8 : 5 6 ), fell on his face and laughed (Gen. 1 7 : 7 ). J o b glo- ried in it. "I know t h at my Redeemer liveth, t h at He shall stand in the latter day upon the e a r t h" (Job 2 5 : 1 9 ). Ba- laam, astonished, gazed toward its dawning and cried, I shall see Him, b ut not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh, t h e re shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of I s r a e l" (Nu. 2 4 : 1 7 ). David won- dered and worshipped in its light, "Is this t hè ma n n er of man, O Lord Go d ?" he cried, and failing of u t t e r a n ce said, "Wh at mo re can David s a y !" (2 Sam. 7 : 1 8 - 2 9 ). To Daniel it was t he red- letter day of time (Dan. 9 : 2 5 ). Micah f r om .far saw its Star over Bethlehem (Mi. 5 : 2 ). Adam exulted to see t he Son of t he woman smite t he dragon's CHRISTMAS Lesson XII. December 22. Isaiah 9:1-7.
t he axle, hub, center of all things; " h ow o f t shall my b r o t h er sin a g a i n st ME ? " It is always looking for of- fences and t h e r e f o re always stumbling over them. In t h us always projecting itself it is always giving offense and should t h e r e f o re be the last to t a ke any- A man who learns to say "Against Thee, Th ee only have I ' s i n n ed (Ps. 5 1 : 4) should say of his b r o t h e r 's fauit, "Against Thee, Thee only has he sinned." Forgiven sinners should have nothing to forgive. Conscious of t he beam in their own eye, they should be blind to t he mo t ( i v )p in their b r o t h e r 's eye; t a k i ng none offense, as they give " n o ne offense" ( 1 Co. 1 0 : 3 3 ). P e t e r 's question would not then concern t h em. 2. The limit of forgiveness. (1) How o f t . . . till seven t i me s ?" P e t er was liberal; the doctors of his day said " T h r ee times." Peter used " s e v e n" lit- erally; J e s us used it symbolically, i. e., as the perfect n umb e r. (2) "Not seven b ut seventy times seven." This is b ut to say without limit. It is a simple plan a nd saves bookkeeping, since all accounts are balanced beforehand. (3) In Lu ke 17:4, t he Lord says, "Seven times in a d a y ," and this wo u l d, be twenty-five h u n d r ed and twenty-five times in a year, and many times this in a lifetime. But he adds, "If he say, I r e p e n t ," should we not otherwise for- give him? Yes, in heart, for ours is t he spirit of forgiveness. But without confession on his part he would mis- judge us, and we should anger him, if we say, "I forgive you." Forgiveness without repentance benefits no ma n, and melts no barriers. IV. HOW I T WAS IN A GIVEN CASE. 1. The forgiving King. (1) His day of reckoning; (2) t he debtor " b r o u g h t "; (3) t he enormous debt, $10,000,000 or mo r e; (4) the b a n k- r u p t; (5) t he foreclosure, on persons and property; (6) t he pitiful plea for patience, and the promise to pay; (7) the king's compassion: ( a ) he grants liberty ("loosed h i m ," so near was he to p r i s o n ), (b) he cancels the debt. 2. The unforgiving servant. (1) He meets, even as he "we nt o u t ," a debtor; (2) a fellow servant; (3) who owed a few dollars; (4) laid h a n ds on h im; ( 5) choked h im; (6) said (between his teeth [ ? ] ) Pay! (7) the identical plea for patience and promise to pay; ( 8) t he pitiless refusal, hopeless im- prisonment, a nd demand for the last penny.
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