t not suppose, however, that the Lord has commanded his disciples
to bear injuries as a clod bears blows. Mere softness in yielding to the
wicked is not a Christian grace; it is, on the contrary, a mischievous
indolence: it suffers sin upon a brother: it deprives him of the benefit
of reproof, and so encourages him to continue in his sin. "If thy
brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive
him." This Teacher does not obliterate the lines which separate
righteousness from unrighteousness. He enjoins tenderness: but much as
he loves to see that feature in his disciples, he places it second to
faithfulness. The order of precedence as regards these two has been
determined by royal ordinance--"first pure, then peaceable." "Have salt
in yourselves, and have peace one with another," said the Lord at
another time (Mark ix.), plainly giving faithfulness the first place,
and requiring that gentleness should press hard up behind. Rebuke the
brother who does a wrong to you; if under your reproof and the working
of the truth on his conscience, he be led to repentance and confession,
forgive him in your heart, and express your forgiveness, that he may be
encouraged and relieved. The precept "forgive" must, from the nature of
the case, refer to the articulate expression of forgiveness; for in his
heart and before God, a Christian forgives his enemy, although that
enemy continue obdurate.

Next comes the precept, given in similar terms already in another place
(Matt. xviii. 15-22), regarding the repetition of injuries. The duty of
forgiving a repenting injurer is not modified by the frequency of his
sin; the form of the expression "seven times in a day," is manifestly
intended to intimate that there is on that side absolutely no limit. It
is not the part of a Christian to count the number of the injuries he
has received, and to refuse forgiveness after a certain point; it is his
part to be of a forgiving spirit, and to give forth forgiveness to all
like the sunlight. The example of the Lord is the pattern for his
servants; "Love one another as I have loved you."

The conception of unlimited forgiving, which in Matthew's narrative is
expressed by "seventy times seven," is here with equal emphasis
expressed by "seven times in a day." When we understand the terms as a
formula for an indefinite number, we exclude the minute question, How
could we believe a man sincere, who should seven times in a day do us an
inju