SIXTH DAY. Parable of the Two Servants. Matt. xviii. 23. "You will have seen, my dears," said Mrs. B., when her children came the following day, with the request that she would read them another parable," that those which we have hitherto read, relate almost exclusively to our duty towards God. That which I have taken for this evening's reading, prescribes to us one principal part of our duty to our neighbour." Mary. Did not you tell me the other day, Mamma, that doing our duty to our neighbours was a part of our duty to God? Mrs. B.-I did, my dear Mary; for all duty is duty to God, inasmuch as it is in obedience to His commands; and as the motive of all our actions ought to be love for Him, and a desire to please Him. But by our duty to God, in an especial manner, is meant what is called by Jesus Christ "the first and great commandment,"* and in the words of our Church Catechism," to believe in Him, to fear Him, and to love Him with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength: to worship Him, to give Him thanks, to put our whole trust in Him, to call upon Him, to honour His holy name and His word; and to serve Him truly all the days of our lives." I ought perhaps rather to have told you, that the parables which we have hitherto read, treat more particularly of the conduct of God towards man, in the govern *Matt. xxii. 38. ment of the world, and of the sentiments. towards Him which His conduct should inspire in us. That which I am now going to read, relates more immediately to the conduct which we ought to adopt one towards another-to the duty of man to man. For instance, to take our last parable, upon which we spent so much time, tell me, Mary, what were the great truths which were intended to be impressed? Mary. The father, Mamma, was meant to represent God, and the parable was to show the goodness of God in forgiving all our faults, and the way in which we ought to be sorry for them, and to ask for His forgiveness. Mrs. B.—We shall now begin to follow this up, that is, to reason upon it, and to form a conclusion from it. From the conduct of God to us, we must learn what ought to be the conduct of man to man. Henry. But, Mamma, how can we put man into the place of God? How can we the two cases compare ? Mrs. B-It is very true, my dear Henry, that we cannot; but if God, who is all-perfect himself, is so kind and forgiving to us, and yet condescends to compare the two cases, there is surely much more reason why we, imperfect as we are, should show a similar indulgence, and similar kindness, towards those who stand in need of our forgiveness. And this is the first branch of our duty to our neighbour, or, in other words, of charity. Henry. I thought, Mamma, that charity meant giving money and clothes, and food, to poor people, who could not buy them for themselves. Mrs. B.-That, my dear Henry, is indeed one branch of charity; but it is a very small portion of what is intended by the Christian virtue of Charity. When you are older, and more able to understand the whole meaning of this first of virtues, you will find, in one of St. Paul's Epistles, a full enumeration of all its good qualities: but it is quite sufficient for our purpose to take these two plain instructions—the one, "As ye would that men should do to M you, do ye also to them likewise;" and the other, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." "This," says Jesus, after naming, as I told you before, the first and great commandment, "is the second, and like unto it." + "Love," says St. Paul, "is the fulfilling of the law:" and, in short, the Christian Religion, or our duty to God, and our duty to man, are composed of these alonelove to God, and love to man. If we act towards God as if we loved Him, we shall obey Him, we shall serve Him, we shall be anxious to please Him. If we act towards men as if we loved them, we shall be kind, indulgent, forgiving, obliging, careful not to offend, and not to be offended in a word, (for we cannot go farther,) to do to all men, as we would wish that they should do to us. Mary.-I think, Mamma, that rule is so plain that it cannot be very difficult: Luke vi. 31. + Matt. xxii. 38, 39. |