K B 57
February, 1945
AIM: To teach the joy of forgiving others.. APPROACH: You know how you feel when a boy or girl spoils your game, or goes off with your playthings, or takes the biggest share of something. Peter, one of Jesus’ friends, felt the same way. Proba bly somebody had been unkind to • b l V I S I O N him t i m e after time, and now Pe ter didn’t want to forgive that person any more. Peter knew that to forgive meant to say, “ It’s all right; let’s be friends”—and to mean it. But he was cross inside, even when he went to the Lord Jesus to ask Him a question. LESSON STORY: Peter said some thing like, this: “Lord, when my brother is mean to me and does un kind things, how many times do I have to forgive him—seven times?” Peter thought that would be a great many times, and it would be. But the Lord Jesus wanted him to learn the same kind of lesson about for giveness that we learn when we are counting numbers; When we are trying to count from one to a hundred, and we make a mis take, we say, “I’ll start all over again!” A new start always gives us a happy feeling inside, and usually we can go farther the next time with out making a mistake. The Lord Jesus said forgiveness is like that. “Peter,” Jesus said to His friend in words like these, " l want you to keep on forgiving people when ever they need to be forgiven—not just seven times, but as many as sev enty; times seven.” To reach that high figure, Peter probably would have to “start over again” more than once, but every time he would feel glad in his heart because he was making a new begin ning, and the Lord Jesus would be glad, too. What could be better than that? Object Lesson S ally and S usie OBJECTS: A new bar of hand soap, and a rubber sponge soap dish. (Hearts may be cut from soap and sponge if convenient.) LESSON: How many of you have chums? You like your chums just a little better than you do other friends. It is good to have chums if they are the right kind. I brought two chums with me this morning. You w ill be surprised when you see t h e m. Perhaps you h a v e never thought of them in just this way, but they are very good friends, for they are usually seen together.
ward in the day of accounting. In view of the swift approach of this day, let God’s children learn to for give even as Christ has forgiven (cf. Eph. 4:32). 4. "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all" (v. 26). The servant here speaks’as a legalist. He does not plead as a sinner who is un done. He does not ask for forgiveness. Furthermore, he says that he w ill pay all he Owes. He talks as one who by his works can discharge his obliga tions to God. Therefore, it is not sur prising to find him later in the story dealing sorely with a fellow servant. He had not learned the grace of his Lord. Not until the individual him self experiences the grace of God, will he be able to deal graciously with others. Golden Text Illustration M atthew 6:14, 15 Two Christian Koreans who had been imprisoned long and unjustly for their faith, called on the old Minister of War after they had been set free. The Minister of War was chiefly re sponsible for their imprisonment. They said to him: “Your Excellency was the cause of our being unjustly thrown into prison. Some of us died in pris on; we were sick because of the food and filth . . . Our wives and children starved to death. According to Ko rean codes, we should try to kill you now, but we have become Christians and are willing to forgive you. All that we ask of you is to confess your sins, believe in Jesus, and pray for forgiveness.” The Minister of War was deeply affected; A similar incident occurred during the Boxer uprising in China. A Boxer came to a missionary and asked the question: “How do you account for the fact that the Christians prayed for the very people who were going to execute them? A religion that has a grit like that must have something in it. Tell me the secret.” —Sunday School Chronicle. Forgiving One Another M atthew 18:21, 22 MEMORY VERSE: “ Be ye kind one to another” (Eph. 4:32).
will “do unto you, if ye . . . forgive not every one his brother” (v. 35). The forgiveness : bestowed by God upon all penitent debtors, if truly ap preciated, w ill lead the forgiven one to act in the same gracious way with others. Whenever there is a conies* sion of guilt and a plea for forgive ness there should be full and free re mittance of the debt. This test will always come to each one whom the Lord forgives, and when a plea for forgiveness is presented to the follower of the Lord Jesus, the action should be just what the action of Jesus would be, fully forgiving without limit and without hesitancy. We should bear in mind that this discussion of debt and forgiveness does not touch eternal conditions, or judgment after death, but deals with the kingdom upon the earth (cf. Matt. 16:19). The forgiveness that touches eternal conditions cannot be reversed; it is absolute, unconditional, and for ever. Points and Problems 1. "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" (Matt. 18:21). Peter was feeling magnanimous when he offered the suggestion that seven might be the number of times his forgiving spirit should be manifested. This was going beyond the demands of the rabbis who felt that, forgiving grace was extended to the breaking point if it haa been shown on three occasions. Peter used the number seven, the numbfer of perfection and completeness, and felt that he was reaching the heights of forgiving grace. But in reality, he revealed his littleness. By it he inferred that there is a limit to God's forgiveness, and an end to God’s grace operating in the lives of His children. 2. "Not . . . Until seven times; but. Until seventy times seven" (v. 22). Here we have perfection and com pleteness multiplied seventy times. It is our Lord’s way of saying that His forgiving spirit which should reside in the heart of every believer is un limited. There is to be no time when the follower of Christ shall refuse to forgive the sincere suppliant. God is perfect in forgiveness as well as in everything else. The Christian needs to manifest this same graciousness. 3. 'The kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants" (v. 23). A powerful motive for Christian forgive ness is suggested by this statement. A day of settlement or reckoning is coming. At the Bema Seat of Christ every believer will stand to give ac count of his stewardship. There is nothing that hinders Christian service more than a hateful and unforgiving spirit. It will prevent many from re ceiving the fullest measure of re
B LA C K B O A R D LESSON
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