FATHER FORGIVE THEM.

And when they were come to the place, which is

called calvary, there they crucified Him,

and the malefactors, one on the right hand,

and the other on the left. Then said Jesus,

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And they parted His raiment, and cast lots.

And the people stood beholding. Luke 23vs33-35.

They gave Jesus the place of dishonour. Reckoning Him to be the worst criminal of the three, they put Him between the other two. They heaped upon Him the utmost scorn which they could give to a malefactor, and in so doing they unconsciously honoured Him. Jesus always deserves the chief place wherever He is. In all things He must have the pre-eminence. He is King of sufferers as well as King of saints.

How startled they must have been to hear such words from one who was about to be put to death for a supposed crime! The men that drove the nails, the men that lifted up the tree, must have started back in amazement when they heard Jesus talk to God as His Father, and pray for them, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Did ever Roman legionary hear such words before? I should say not. They were so distinctly and diametrically opposed to the whole spirit of Rome. There it was blow for blow, only in the case of Jesus they gave blows where none had been recieved. The crushing cruelty of the Roman must have been startled indeed at such words as these, " Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

The gambling soldiers little dreamed that they were fulfilling the scriptures while they were raffling for the raiment of the illustrious Sufferer on the cross, yet it was so. In the 22nd psalm, which so fully sets forth our Saviour's suffering while He hung on the tree, David wrote, " they parted My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture."

"And the people stood beholding," gazing, looking on at the cruel spectacle. You and I would not have done that, there is a public sentiment that has trained us to hate the sight of cruelty, especially deadly cruelty to one of our own race, but these people thought that they did no harm when they "stood beholding." They also were thus fulfilling the scriptures, for the 17th verse of the 22nd psalm says, " they look and stare upon me."

FULL ASSURANCE.

I speak affectionately to the weaker ones, who cannot yet say that they know they have believed. I speak not to your condemnation, but to comfort you. Full assurance is not essential to salvation, but it is essential to satisfaction. May you get it-may you get it at once, at any rate, may you never be satisfied to live without it. You may have full assurance. You may have it without personal revelations, it is wrought in us by the Word of God. These things are written that you may have it, and we can be sure that the means used by the Spirit are equal to the effect which He desires. Under the guidance of the Spirit of God, John so wrote as to attain his end in writing. What, then, has he written with the design of making us know that we have eternal life? Go through the of his whole epistle, and you will see that it all presses in that direction.
He begins thus, " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is The Christ is born of God." Do you believe that Jesus is the anointed of God? Is He so to you? Is He anointed as your prophet, priest and king? Have you realised His anointing so as to put your trust in Him? Do you recieve Jesus as appointed of God to be the mediator, the propitiation for sin, the Saviour of men? If so then you are born of God. "How may I know this " Brethren, our evidence is the witness of God Himself as here recorded. We need no other witness. Suppose an angel were to tell you that you were born of God, would that be a more sure testimony than the infallible scripture? If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you are born of God. John has thus positively declared the truth, that you may know that you have eternal life. Can anything be more clear than this?
The loving spirit of John leads him to say, " everyone that loveth Him that begat, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him." Do you love God? Do you love His only begotten Son? You can answer these two questions surely. I knew a dear christian woman who would sometimes say, " I know that I love Jesus, but my fear is that He does not love me." Her doubt used to make me smile, for it never could have occurred to me. If I love Him, I know it is because He first loved me. Love to God in us is always the work of God's love towards us. Jesus loved us, and gave Himself for us, and therefore we love Him in return. Love to Jesus is an effect which proves existence of the cause. Do you love Jesus? Do you feel a delight in Him? Is His name as music to your ear and honey to your tongue? Do you love to hear Him praised? Ah dear friends! I know that to many of you a sermon full of His dear name is as a royal banquet, and if there is no Christ in a discourse, it is empty and void and vain to you. Is it not so? If you do indeed love Him that begat and Him that is begotten of Him, then this is one of the things that is written, " that ye may know that ye have eternal life."