Forgiveness by I. SANBORN

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 2, 1869

Forgiveness.

By I. SANBORN

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. vi, 14, 15. How wonderful is this language of the Saviour, and how appropriate to the condition of those who believe that the Judgment will soon close; who are also praying that the Lord may forgive them all their sins. Many of their sins they have never yet seen; yet they expect forgiveness while they hold malice and hardness in their hearts against their brother or sister; and yet they hope to be forgiven. Vain hope. They can see the mote in their brother’s eye, but cannot see the beam in their own eye.

What a contrast! A mote is something quite small, as dust. A beam is something large—a splinter large enough to destroy the power of sight till it is removed. What an idea that this brother or sister, with a sin represented by the Saviour by the term “beam,” in the eye, should think of seeing the little mote in the brother’s eye. But Jesus says, Take the beam out of thine own eye, then thou canst see clearly to take the mote out of thy brother’s eye. This was well illustrated in the case of the woman that was brought to the Saviour, condemned for breaking the seventh commandment. Jesus said, Let him that is without sin cast the first stone at her; and they all went out one by one; and he said, Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord; and he said, Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.

Suppose my brother has sinned. Does he not need my help to overcome? But how can I help him, when I need the very same kind of help myself that he needs? May the Lord help us all to remember that until we are without sin, that is, until we walk after the Spirit entirely, and not after the flesh at all, we are not in a condition to be of any help to our erring brothers and sisters. May all who read these few lines prayerfully consider the importance of getting the beam out of their own eyes before they try to get the mote out of their brother’s eye. I. SANBORN.