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Forgiveness, the Key That Unlocks the Secret Place
Wednesday Night Bible Lecture by Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D., of Christ Church, London
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CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON.
THE ANAL YSIS
The section presents three lines for teach
ing;
A. Teaching concerning reconciliation —Vs.
15-18.
B. Teaching concerning Symphony in prayer
—Vs. 19-20.
C. Teaching concerning Forgiveness—Vs.
21-35.
1. Peter’s Question —V. 21.
2. Jesus’ Answer —V. 22.
3. The Illustration—Vs. 23-25.
(1) The Forgiving Master —Vs. 23-27.
(2) The Unforgiving Servant —Vs.
28-30.
(3) The Application—Vs. 31-35.
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Matt. 18:15-35.
N order that we may get the teach
ing of the present section, it is
necessary that we shall remember
that it is a part of the same conver
sation of our last study, where the
disciples had raised the question,
“Who is greatest in the Kingdom
of Heaven?”
It is also necessary to remember
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that this lesson, like the two preceding ones, is
a part of the immediate aftermath of the
Transfiguration. Following the Transfigura
tion, Jesus came into the valley, and there He
healed the demoniac boy. After this, come
the disciples to Jesus saying: “Who is great
est in the Kingdom of Heaven?” And Jesus
answers their question by setting a little child
in their midst, and saying: “Whosoever shall
humble himself as this little child, the same is
the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Now, it would seem that there had developed
some bitterness among His disciples. Doubt
less, it had grown out of the presence of Peter,
James and John with Him on the Mount of
Transfiguration. It was, perhaps, due to this,
that the disciples raised the question concerning
position in the Kingdom of Heaven. And our
present study seems to be a continuation of the
teaching of our Lord, growing out of that ques
tion. It is in three parts:
First, He teaches a lesson concerning recon
ciliation. And it will be helpful for us to ob
serve the fourfold manner of dealing with a
brother who has trespassed against us. The
first step is this: To go to such an one, and
talk it out with him alone. A very important
thing to remember. If we all observed that,
it would be a great deal easier to settle differ
ences. He didn’t say that we were to go
around and talk it over with our neighbors, and
then go to him. We ought to go straight to
him and talk it out with him alone.
Then the next step is this: If he will not
hear you, take with you one or two others.
Then, if he will not hear them, take it to the
---•*’ ■ ' t. . *
The Golden Age for January 16,1913.
Reported for The Golden Age by M. I. H.—Copyright Applied for.
Church, or the assembly. Then, if he will not
hear them, let him be unto to you as an heathen
and a publican. Now, by this, He does not
mean, in any sense, that you are to turn your
back upon him forever, and never have any
more concern about him. He meant simply
what He said, That if after taking these steps
he should refuse to hear you, you are to assume
an attitude to him like you would assume to the
heathen as a Christian man. That attitude is
not one of unconcern. You dont say of the
heathen, Well now, he won’t come my way,
let him go his way; I don’t care. No. We
treat them in a different way, we treat them
in a compassionate way we think of them, we
labor for them, and pray for them. And so
our Lord says that if a man who has trespassed
against you, refuses all these overtures that you
make, then you are to assume an attitude to
him as toward the heathen, and there is no ques
tion but that He means here that we are to
pray for him, and that not only ourselves, but
get others to join with us in prayer; for in the
very next verse, He is talking about symphony
in prayer. “If two of you shall agree. .. in
my name” —literally—“sound together ” a
symphony, a “concord of sweet sounds.” And
it is a very beautiful word used by our Lord, in
a very beautiful and suggestive sense. If any
two of you are agreed, in harmony, if there is
symphony in your desires, and your agreement,
and it is accordin gto my will, it shall be grant
ed unto you, that thing which you desire.
Then He comes to the lesson concerning for
giveness. Here we must stop and observe
Peter’s question: “Then came Peter, and said
to Him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me and I forgive him? Until seven
times ? ’ ’
And our Lord answers: “I say not unto
thee until seven times, but until seventy times
seven.” And then He gives them the parable
of the Master and the debtor.
If we study this parable, we will find that it
falls into three parts. Let us look first at the
forgiving master. His servant owed him ten
thousand talents, an immense sum, far beyond
what he is able to pay. And he so states to
his master. Whereupon, his master command
ed him to be sold, and his wife and chil
dren, and all his possessions, in order that he
might be able to meet the obligation. The ser
vant then fell down and worshipped him, say
ing, “Lord, have patience with me, and I will
pay thee! ’ ’ Whereupon, the master has com
passion on him, and freely forgives him all his
debt.
Then the second part, as you will see, is the
account of the unforgiving servant. This same
servant went out and found one of his fellow
servants who owed him a pittance of a sum.
Those who figured it out, find the amount was
less than a millionth part of his debt, from
which he had been cleared. But he demanded
payment to be made. Then his fellow servant
fell down on his knee and besought him, saying,
“Have patience with me and I will pay thee
all.” And he would not; but went out and
cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.
The lord and master of that unforgiving ser
vant then comes upon the scene, and has a reck
oning with this servant, whom he had so gra
ciously and mercifully forgiven, and he says,
“Oh, thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all
thy debt because thou desiredst me; should
not thou also have had compassion on thy fel
low servant, even as I had compassion on
thee?” And he delivered him to the torment
ors, to those who would ill treat him, until he
should pay what he owed.
Then follows the application of our Lord in
the 35th verse, * ‘ So, likewise shall my heavenly
father do also unto you, if from your hearts ye
forgive not everyone his brother their trea
passes. ’ ’
This brings us directly to the subject of for
giveness. I want first that we shall see the
meaning of the word forgiveness. It is a word
we use very frequently, without stopping to
understand the full force of its meaning.
There are two Greek words, translated for us
in English “forgiveness.” They are very dif
ferent words, however. I do not know why
the translators have translated both of them
“forgiveness,” without some explanation, but
they have. The first of these words refers to
the forgiveness of condonation, or toleration.
The other refers to the forgiveness of displace
ment, the forgiveness that puts away, out of
sight.
There is a vast difference between the sort
of half-hearted form of forgiveness —the for
giveness that most people, however, practice—
and the forgiveness that puts away. Most peo
ple forgive by tolerating; they say, “Oh, well,
I will forgive, but I can not forget; I will hold
it against you; I will not be able to trust you
any more, though I forgive you. ’ ’ That is the
forgiveness of condonation, or toleration; but
that is not the forgiveness that our Lord
teaches. It is not the forgiveness He exercises
over us. His is a forgiveness that comes from
the other word; the forgiveness of displace
ment, that puts clean out of sight and hides
away the thing forgiven.
We have a splendid illustration in the Scrip
tures, of this. You remember on the day of
Atonement the two goats are brought out; one
of them is slain. On the head of the other
the priest puts his hand, and as he does so,
confesses the sins of the people, and then in the
hand of a fit man, this goat is led off into the
wilderness, and is there lost. There never was
anyone in the world that saw that goat after
wards, he was lost to sight forever. This is
a picture of our Lord’s forgiveness. When He
takes our sins away, they are taken away for
all time and for eternity; no man afterwards
will be able to see them —not even the angels
of heaven! Not even the patriarchs of heaven.
God himself, will never see them again! They
are put clear out of sight; lost in the wilder
ness of forgetfulness, these sins that God has
put away. He is the fit Man; our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Our Anglo-Saxon word,
“forgive” itself properly studied, conveys the
same idea. It means literally to forth give or
give forth. And you find a splendid illustra
tion of it in the case of Lazarus when he was
raised from the dead. You remember he was
bound about with grave clothes his mouth
was tied; his hands and feet were tied. There
he laid, unable to walk, or talk and our Lord
said, “Loose him and let him go.” Now the
word, “loose” there is the same in meaning as
the word “forgive,” that we are talking about
now. It means forgive him and let him go.
Let him loose from his grave clothes, forth give
him from his grave clothes so that he can walk
and talk like a live man.
We want now to see the application, first to
salvation. In order to get this, we must go
back and review the story. In this story of
the forgiving master, and the unforgiving ser
vant, we have set forth, salvation attempted by
law, and salvation accomplished by grace. Ev
ery man born into this world owes God a debt
which he can not pay. When this is recognized,
and Jesus’ forgiveness is sought, He wipes away
the debt, and sets the sinner free.
What is the attitude of Jesus Christ in re
spect to a Christian man who sins? It is well
for us to face that! What is His attitude?
In our daily life His attitude to our sin is exact
ly the same as His attitude to the sins that lie in
the past when we come to Him first for salva
(Continued on Page 14.)