You may force from the passage the idea :—

First: That it is the duty of men to forgive injuries without any condition or restriction. The reply of the Heavenly Teacher to Peter touching forgiveness is remarkably strong, and without any qualification. "How oft," says Peter "shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him ?” The answer is, "I say not unto thee, until seven times: but until seventy times seven." A definite number for an indefinite multitude. Take the language just as it is, and deal with it in a mere verbal style, and you have the idea that whatever the aggravation or number of injuries a man may inflict upon you, there is to be no resistance, even in the form of just retribution;-but an unconditional forgiveness. Now, that such an idea as this was intended to be taught, cannot for a moment be entertained. It not only clashes with our common sense, reason, and conscience; with the necessary conditions of social order, and with the general tenor of Biblical teaching on the subject; but with the very instructions of Christ himself, and that even in the context. the verses immediately preceding, Christ in legislating for the offended brother, teaches plainly the duty of binding or condemning, as well as the duty of loosing, or absolving; the duty of judicially excommunicating an incorrigible offender, as well as the duty of mercifully receiving a repentant one.

You may force from the passage the idea :—

In

Secondly: That the Almighty sanctions the principle of man holding property in his fellow man, and of punishing the innocent for the sins of the guilty. The conduct of the master here in relation to his servant, who had contracted such an enormous debt, and who could not pay, is certainly based upon the notion that he has not only a right to sell the debtor, but to sell his wife and children, as his property. It is true, that inasmuch as the "certain king" here is no other than the great God, He has an absolute right to act thus. All souls are His ;-the soul of the husband, and the wife, the parent, and the child, are His; but as His con

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duct is here illustrated by human action, are we not bound to believe that such actions are right? For could that be wicked in man which is taken to represent His righteous procedure? By such plausible reasoning you may get out of the passage the idea, that God sanctions the principle of man holding property in his fellow, and even of his punishing the innocent for the guilty. Such an idea, however, as this which the ruthless slaveholder, and the tyrannic autocrat, are anxious to maintain, is repugnant alike to the universal and instinctive sentiment of social justice, and to the whole genius of Christianity. Were it otherwise, however, were the idea true, we should still say, That is not an idea which the Heavenly Teacher intended to convey in this passage.

You may force from the passage the idea :—

Thirdly: That a man who has once been pardoned may relapse into wickedness and be finally lost. This debtor, who after his earnest entreaties, was forgiven his enormous debts, instead of consecrating the whole residue of his life to the merciful, the just, and the godly, very soon, it would seem, commences a course of relentless tyranny. "He went out and found one of his fellowservants which owed him an hundred pence," "—a mere fraction compared with the debt which he had been forgiven-" and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt." For this piece of unkindness, his lord, who had forgiven him, was "wroth," revoked, it would seem, the pardon which he had granted him, and then "delivered him to the tormentors”—jailors, who in the east were very cruel-"till he should pay all that was due unto him." Now the possibility of a good man apostatizing admits of no question. Some of the best men have fallen into grievous sins. But whether such men may be finally lost is a question which no theological controversy has yet settled; and which, I believe, is mercifully enshrouded in a

haze of uncertainty.

But were it certain that a man once

pardoned may fall into wickedness and be finally lost, this passage, was not designed, I think, to convey such an idea. You may force from the passage the idea :—

Are

Fourthly That we are justified in regulating our conduct towards men according to their conduct to others. Why did the lord of this servant revoke the pardon which he had granted, and inflict such condign punishment upon him? Was it not because of the inexorable spirit of cruelty which this servant had displayed towards his fellowservant? we not then authorised to regulate our conduct towards men by their conduct towards others? Are we not justified in that case in being severe to them? This seems very fair reasoning from the passage; but the principle of action. which is thus brought out, is certainly not correct; and if it were, it is not what the passage is designed to teach. You may force from the passage the idea :—

tormentors, till he Does not this shed

Fifthly: That after a period of purgatorial endurance, the wicked may be delivered from their torments. "And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the should pay all that was due unto him." a ray of hope upon the future of the damned? Does not the language imply the possibility of discharging the debt amongst those tormentors? The Papists have used these words in support of Purgatory. The principle of purgatory, in its application to this life, I believe in. There is something like purgatory in our passage to every state of true elevation. No true kingdom is entered but through much tribulation. It is through something like the purgatorial fires of moral thought, conviction, resolve, aspiration, that we pass into our heavens here. But I do not see sufficient reason as yet to believe that this principle is applicable to the other world. The fires there I fear are not purgatorial. Anyhow, the passage before us was not designed to teach that idea.

The truth is, the passage is parabolical; and a parable like all pictures, has generally much thrown into it, which has

no necessary connexion with the subject, but whose strokes and shades are intended to bring out the subject into a bolder relief, and a more commanding attitude. The expressions and allusions from which you could draw some of the ideas we have mentioned, are mere incidental strokes of the artist, which are not to be examined separately, but viewed in connexion with the leading subject.

What then is the master idea of this passage? Unbounded forgiveness toward the repentant offender. This is here enforced by, The strong language of Christ, The example of the great God, and, The terrible doom of the unforgiving.

I. THIS GREAT SUBJECT OF UNBOUNDED FORGIVENESS IS ENFORCED BY THE STRONG LANGUAGE OF CHRIST. "Until seventy times seven," said Christ. Peter's question, which was probably started in his mind by what the Son of God had just said (vv. 15-17), concerning the manner of dealing with an offended brother, implies a twofold impression: that it was his duty to exercise forgiveness towards an offender, and that that forgiveness from the Christian should be of a marvellously generous character. "Till seven times?" says he, feeling no doubt that this was wondrously liberal, and would meet with the commendation of his great Master. And it was liberal for unrenewed human nature, which seldom forgives even once; liberal even for the Hebrew Saint; for three times and no more did the old Hebrew religion require the exercise of forgiveness.

Peter might have been led to specify the particular number "seven," because that number was a matter in discussion among the Jews, who, according to Lightfoot, pardoned the third, but not the fourth, offence. The apostle here more than doubles that number, as if to go to the greatest lengths of mercy. No doubt he considered himself prodigiously merciful in stating "seven times;" and confidently expected a high commendation from his Master for such an extraordinary stretch of mercy. But he was disappointed, and would soon feel humbled on account of the meagreness of his heart.

"I say not unto thee," says Christ, "until seven times, but until seventy times seven.' As if he had said, There is no limit to the exercise of a merciful disposition. In Luke xvii. ver. 3, we hear Him inculcating the same sentiment. "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him." In other places. He intimates that unless we forgive our enemies, we have no reason to hope for forgiveness from God. "If ye forgive men their trespasses your Heavenly Father will forgive you." How earnestly, moreover, does Paul inculcate the same unbounded mercifulness of disposition. "Put off anger, malice; forbearing one another, forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

The unbounded mercifulness of disposition which Christ here in this seventy times seven inculcates on Peter, serves two important purposes

First To expose the unchristianity of the Church in this respect. Turn over the pages of Ecclesiastical history and show me where has been the display of this spirit. I read of acrimonious controversies, of uncharitable accusations, of wretched bigotries, of malicious persecutions, of sanguinary wars in connexion with what has been called the Church, but I confess that since the Apostolic age I can discover scarcely a vestige of this wonderful spirit. "The eye for an eye," and "the tooth for a tooth," spirit, I see everywhere; but scarcely any sign of this seventy times seven spirit of forgiveness. Great Emmanuel, how the conventional Church has misrepresented thy spirit to the world!

Again, the unbounded mercifulness here expressed,

serves:

Secondly: To indicate the vastness of His forgiving love towards the world. He inculcated only the principle on which He himself acted. He abundantly pardons. "Though your sins be as scarlet," &c.