" For his murderers he cries--"Father,
forgive them; they _know not_ what they do!" And must vain, erring man
be more harsh towards his fellow-man than his Maker? "Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." "I came," says Jesus, "to seek
and to save _the lost_!" therefore, who so lost but in Jesus shall find
a friend? And shall it not be so with his followers, when they remember
his words, "_I have given you an example_, that ye should do as I have
done to you"?
In this day of the multiplicity of good works, and of trusting to them
for salvation, it may seem strange for us to urge their necessity. But
in speaking of those who lack the beautiful oneness in character and
conduct which distinguished Jesus, we would not omit many who, having
been educated in the full belief of the doctrine of "justification by
faith," carry it to such an extent as to despise good works, and almost
to look upon them as heretical. They set them down in their religious
calendar as _savoring of ostentation_, and thus run into the opposite
extreme, neglecting entirely the command of our Lord, to "Let your light
so shine before men, that they _may see your good works_." They take a
one-sided view of truth and duty, forgetting that "he who shall break
one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so" (even by
practice), shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.
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