Brotherly Love
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thankful.” “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
The fact that we are under so great obligation to Christ places us
under the most sacred obligation to those whom He died to redeem.
We are to manifest toward them the same sympathy, the same tender
compassion and unselfish love, which Christ has manifested toward
us. Selfish ambition, desire for supremacy, will die when Christ takes
possession of the affections.
Our Saviour taught His disciples to pray: “Forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors.” A great blessing is here asked upon conditions.
We ourselves state these conditions. We ask that the mercy of God
toward us may be measured by the mercy which we extend to others.
Christ declares that this is the rule by which the Lord will deal with
us. “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.” Wonderful terms! but how little
are they understood or heeded. One of the most common sins, and one
that is attended with most pernicious results, is the indulgence of an
unforgiving spirit. How many will cherish animosity or revenge and
then bow before God and ask to be forgiven as they forgive. Surely
they can have no true sense of the import of this prayer or they would
not dare to take it upon their lips. We are dependent upon the pardoning
mercy of God every day and every hour; how then can we cherish
bitterness and malice toward our fellow sinners! If, in all their daily
intercourse, Christians would carry out the principles of this prayer,
what a blessed change would be wrought in the church and in the
world! This would be the most convincing testimony that could be
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given to the reality of Bible religion.
God requires more of His followers than many realize. If we would
not build our hopes of heaven upon a false foundation we must accept
the Bible as it reads and believe that the Lord means what He says. He
requires nothing of us that He will not give us grace to perform. We
shall have no excuse to offer in the day of God if we fail to reach the
standard set before us in His word.
We are admonished by the apostle: “Let love be without dissim-
ulation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. Be
kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor prefer-
ring one another.” Paul would have us distinguish between the pure,