| Show forgiveness following to ii a portion of the elite chapter of matthew and aad when thou grayest pra yeat yest thou ahalt not be AN a the hypocrites are for they love lave to pray standing in the synagogue sandin and in the tae corners of the streets 8 that they may be wen seen of men verily I 1 bay you they have their reward but thou when thou grayest pra yest enter into thy closet and when thou haht abut thy door pray to thy father which is ia in secret coret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly but when ye pray use not vain repetitions an aa the ahe heathen do for they think that hat they shall be heard for their much ol not ye bour oar father what things ye ff haab ve need of before ye ask him after afier this manner therefore pray ye our father which art in heaven hallowed by thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as an it ft Is in heaven gives us ibis day our daily broad bread and forgive us ua our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom kinG domand and the power and the glory for ever amen for if ye forgive men their trespasses your jour heavenly father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your father forgive your jour trespasses read bead and viewed la in the light of the of ideas conveyed and in ahe toe order of literary composition the five verses venea which express the loru prayer form farm so an introduction to the two loises which express the jaw ol of forgive near in other worde viewed in this light the me lordo prayer one ol of the sublime st utterances ever placed on record since the world began becomes a prelude to another which the great principle of forgiveness as ae one of the condi tlona of salvation students of af the scriptures ought to exercise oaie care in permitting one passage to outweigh another and in riving to to each the importance to which it Is ie entitled but we think no harm con can come from regarding the prayer as ae leading up lo in one feature to the of the principle expressed in the verses which follow it since the lord him self tb us applied it this view adds to the importance of that principle and tends to impress upon the mind the necessity for put tine it in practice in our with each other indeed the la in employed by the savior in expressing this law indicates that he it as aa of the utmost consequence for he plainly says that it if we forgive not men their trespasses our father will not forgive u us and without the forgiveness forgive nea of our eine blue how bow can we to receive an in herit auoe in our fathers Fai bete kingdoms king kingdom domi in ID the early rise of this church it was wag quite natural that thai great strew stress should be laid by its elders eders in their preaching upon what a ate e commonly called the first principles of the gospel because it was necessary for the people to learn these first and later when the saints began colon iz Is DK the fast nesse of the mountains mount alne conditions made it necessary for the temporal and practical features fea turee of their re ligon to be given for the time being great prominence ivo c in short what might be called the first or the simpler or the more elementary principles of the lospoc have been taught more abundantly aba ud among the saints than have others of a more abstract abair act nature the outward conduct of 0 the individual has been more frequently dwelt upon than bee bab the inward discipline to which he be must conform his souls and to which he be must subject his hie proud and rebellious spirit but the great body of the prevent adult membership of the church have been long enough in the gospel school to give moro moie attention to SOMIS of its ite higher or deeper or more abstract principles than they have heretofore done and none such to ta which they can turn their minds can claim precedence over the law of 01 forgiveness forgive nees IQ in one sense enie it la Is an easy law to abey it la IN ORPY eay in the anae in which the ibe savior spoke bloke when he said laid my yoke in easy eagy and my burden to light that la Is to him who has baa the spirit of the lor 1 S nothing ie hard bard which the lord requires but bat from the standpoint of carnal man the law of forgiveness la Is one of 0 we the most difficult to obey that ever has baa been revealed to him he may have laith faith enough to make himself blois elf an outcast for the sake eke to perform missions and endure anthe all abe sacrifices incidental thereto to give freely of his earthly possession and add even the whole thereof for the cause of truth be may even have faith enough to perform miracles and yet not be able to so eo tar far subdue his hib feelings and hla his spirit an ae to say aay with tiute that iu in bia hish heart earthe be forgives the man who has baa injured alna I 1 most and yet it to Is to this degree of ob gub jestion to the law of god that every man and woman must come who would enter his presence pre Bence and receive 1 of his hie glory before any ROD ion or daughter of adadean adam can receive such a salvation the heart must be purged of all hardiness bardne ee and a perfect and corn com for must be extended to the individually i nd 1 lle worst enemy noman no man can receive of the glory of the he Fat father beirs kingdom while holding feelings feeling of f hardness hard nees towards a brother the power to forgive one ones 98 boemle in ID the sense meant by the savior to an attribute of a most moat exalted charae ter at ai d Is attained only by the aid of the spirit of god it in acquired by fasting and prayer and a life in atries triot conformity to the of right hence it to la that every men man who acquires it can lord at the be end of ef his big earthly proba tion and claim a forgiveness of his hi bine and the reward of a just juat mau maa made perfect through sacrifice diligence and obedience |
