He has not offended me one-tenth, one-hundredth part as much as I have offended Thee. But I cannot forgive Him. Deal with me, I beseech Thee, O Lord as I deal with him. He has been very ungrateful to me, though not a tenth, not a hundredth part as ungrateful as I have been to Thee. Yet I cannot overlook his ingratitude. Deal with me, O Lord, I beseech Thee, as I deal with him. I remember and treasure up every trifle which shows how ill he has behaved to me. Deal with me, I beseech Thee, O Lord, as I deal with him. I am determined to take the very first opportunity of doing him an ill turn. Deal with me, I beseech Thee, O Lord, as I deal with him.” Oh, what a terrible curse such a prayer is! But, brethren, may it not be that, if we cherish unkind feelings in our hearts, if we hug secret hates and enmities, when we ask God to forgive us, in exactly the same way as we forgive others, we too may be invoking not blessing, but doom upon our own heads. Before we can pray this prayer we need the spirit of forgiveness in our own hearts. Emerson says of Abraham Lincoln, that “his heart was as big as the world, but there was no room in it for the memory of a wrong.” Such must be our spirit also, the spirit that Jesus showed when on the Cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” May God help us even now to forgive from our hearts our brothers their trespasses, then can we draw near with boldness to the throne of grace and pray, “Father, forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive every one that is indebted to us.” VIII “Temptation” “And bring us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.”—MATT. vi. 13. “And bring us not into temptation.”—LUKE xi. 5. Forgiveness is the beginning not the end, the first step not the last in the Christian life. In the Gospel according to John, we read a story about a poor woman who was dragged half dead with shame into the presence of Christ, and charged before Him with a nameless crime. Her enemies crowded round clamouring for her instant punishment. But Jesus, just because He was so pure and good, was infinitely tender and pitiful. He had no harsh judgment to pronounce upon this poor, shame-stricken woman.