Reader, we are nearing the judgment. Talents have been lent us on trust. Let none of us be at last condemned as slothful servants. Send forth the words of life to those in darkness....

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” Christ taught us to pray. But it is most difficult even for those who claim to be followers of Jesus to forgive as He forgave us. The true spirit of forgiveness is so little practiced, and so many interpretations are placed upon Christ’s requirement, that its force and beauty are lost sight of. We have very uncertain views of the great mercy and loving-kindness of God. He is full of compassion and forgiveness and freely pardons when we truly repent and confess our sins.... We must bring into our characters the love and sympathy expressed in Christ’s life....

If we have received the gift of God and have a knowledge of Jesus Christ, we have a work to do for others. We must imitate the long-suffering of God toward us. The Lord requires of us the same treatment toward His followers that we receive of Him. We are to exercise patience and to be kind, even though they do not meet our expectations. The Lord expects us to be pitiful and loving, to have sympathetic hearts. He desires us to show the fruits of the grace of God in our deportment one to another. Christ did not say, You may tolerate your neighbor, but, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This means a great deal more than professing Christians carry out in their daily life....

Christ proceeds to teach that the principles of God’s law reach even to the intents and purposes of the mind. And He plainly states that if we faithfully keep the ten precepts, we shall love our neighbor as ourselves....

A consistent religious life, holy conversation, a godly example, true-hearted benevolence, mark the representatives of Christ. They will labor to pluck sinners as brands from the burning; they will perform every duty faithfully. Thus they will become a beacon light.

Reader, we are nearing the judgment. Talents have been lent us on trust. Let none of us be at last condemned as slothful servants. Send forth the words of life to those in darkness. Let the church be true to her trust. Her earnest, humble prayers will make the presentation of truth effectual, and Christ will be glorified.—The Review and Herald, May 19, 1910. FH 337


The works of Christ not only declared Him to be the Messiah, but showed in what manner His kingdom was to be established. To John was opened the same truth that had come to Elijah in the desert, when “a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire:” and after the fire, God spoke to the prophet by a still, small voice. 1 Kings 19:11, 12. So Jesus was to do His work, not by the overturning of thrones and kingdoms, not with pomp and outward display, but through speaking to the hearts of men by a life of mercy and self-sacrifice. MH 36



For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: Matthew 6:14 (King James Version)