The great powers hidden behind the words contained in the Sermon on the Mount have been lost upon our human ears.
Suppose we take the words contained in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," and apply them literally in our lives. In order to understand their full meaning it is necessary to go behind the words. We must search for the inner meaning of a law so divine its very blinding glory has sealed our eyes with its brilliance and kept us from beholding clearly its infinite power of redemption.
We quote the prayer with our lips but our minds have comprehended it not. Our eyes have seen not and its power and meaning has not penetrated into our hardened hearts and the prayer has remained empty and meaningless in our lives.
If we carry with us through life and on into the next world, which we will do unless we rid ourselves of them here, our hates, our envyings, our discords, our confusion and jealousies and greeds, we will be as completely bound with them as we are at the present time. And the chains with which they bind us are the very chains of hell.
Contained in this most powerful of all prayers is the law that can deliver us from these chains of darkness and set our feet upon the pathway of eternal light and our feet will be forever glorified for the law is ours and the power thereof.
It is a simple law yet its power is beyond anything man has ever experienced. In this day and age, in particular, it is considered smart to retaliate to every harsh word, every unkind act. It is considered a dumb and stupid thing to let slights pass by unavenged. And this road of vengeance is gathering up the whole human race as it struggles along blindly under its burdens of discords, darkness and intensified confusion.
If one would forgive as he hopes to be forgiven -- or better still, forgive solely for the sake of forgiving, he will soon be lifted beyond the powers of darkness. He will have the power to enter the kingdom of heaven and to abide in its blessings.
He who will learn to replace the desire of retaliation with a silent blessing will know the true meaning of the word power, for it will be given to him. He will cease to carry around with him his burdens of dislikes, hates and smoldering, unkind thought. Instead, he will carry only love and compassion and mercy and the power of understanding. And ere he is aware of it he will find himself clothed in light, which light is the white raiment spoken of in scripture and the shame of his own nakedness or sins will never appear. Slowly, gradually, like dropping off one by one the defiled rags of darkness he will find himself cleansed and purified and arrayed in eternal light and power.
Each dark thought one leaves behind lifts his own burden of sins and transgressions. If he can get the vision of the great blessing that is his he would never for an instant hold a grudge or any unkind thought against any living thing, especially a fellow being. His own power of redemption is in his own hands for as surely as he forgives he will have the power to be forgiven for the law is his own. It is his to use or to reject. With each hate unreleased, each unkind thought clutched to his breast he is wearing the dark garments of his own transgressions for they are interwoven with his own grudges and dislikes. The burden of his every mistake, weakness and sin is a very part of his own confusions and envyings and bitter hates. This fabric is all one and the same thing and man is clothed completely in its repulsive darkness. As he casts himself the burden of his neighbor's errors, his enemy's mistakes, his acquaintances' trespasses he will surely shed his own weaknesses, his own transgressions and his own sins. Just by forgiving he can shed the darkness and stand freed from every mortal obligation and blundering mistake, every intentional, dishonest act, every hidden weakness. He will be clothed in the power of light. Majesty will be his -- the very majesty to say, even in the most tragic abuse, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." These are not just words. They are divine power in action -- the power that is every man's right to use.
"Lord, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" is a law and contains a promise that cannot be broken. It is power such as few have ever dreamed of. It is a gateway into the higher realms of existence for in it is also contained the power of the First and Second Commandments. As one forgives he learns the power of love -- and that power will open up to him the very realms of heaven -- for in these two commandments are contained all the laws and the prophets. All the laws and all the prophets means the fulfilling of every divine law ever given and the receiving of every blessing promised by every prophet to mankind since time began. Every dynamic promise of the scripture can be fulfilled by these laws. Every promise of every prophet is his who will fulfill the law. If there is any promise in scripture, or in existence, for that matter, that you desire, then lay hold of these laws, live them and you shall receive in complete fulfillment any blessings your heart can possibly desire or yearn for.
As one forgives he loses his powers of hate and learns the ineffable power of love, the divine majesty of it and the unspeakable glory of it.
"Love your enemies. Pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you." Forgive all, instantly and completely and you will walk with God and become associated with those great and noble ones whom God has reserved unto himself.
These laws of forgiveness and love contain greater power than the atomic bomb. Its power ends in a flash of destruction. The power of love and forgiveness belongs to any who choose to use it and it endures forever. Not one tiny shred of it can ever be lost or destroyed. These laws of God belong to all, to rich and poor, strong and weak, ruler or slave. And to each who fulfills them the ineffable power of eternal freedom and majesty is waiting and robes of glorified light will be his. The shame of his own nakedness, the very shame of his own sin and weaknesses will be completely dissolved in the power of forgiveness.
Yes, God forgives whom He will forgive. He forgives those whom his law of forgiveness forgives. If any fulfill that law they are automatically forgiven. This is his law of forgiveness. This alone is God's law of forgiving and he has bestowed it upon man. It is the law of the universe and applies individually to every human being. God forgives those whom his law forgives, or those who have fulfilled the law -- and of us it is required to forgive all men. That is how his great, merciful law of forgiveness works. It is as simple as that. As real and literal as that and as eternal and powerful as that. He forgives whom He will forgive, or whom his law forgives. Fulfill the law and be forgiven. He has invited all to come to him who labor or who are heavy laden with mortal sins and mistakes and burdens and He will give complete rest. But it is only possible to come to him through the fulfilling of his laws. His laws are his WILL and they contain the unspeakable power of every promise ever given.
God never gave one law for his own personal glory or satisfaction. But every law is given that they might glorify man and clothe him in light and majesty. The laws are given that man might use his own free agency in becoming perfect, even as God is perfect. These laws are that man might receive power even as God has power.
Forgive and you shall be forgiven and stand purified before the very throne of God, clothed in light and majesty and eternal love, walking with God -- a member of the great assembly of Light. This law is one of the most exact, the most positive and definite laws ever given to man -- and God is no respecter of persons. He who fulfills this law shall receive the promises -- forgiveness -- power -- light -- and the keys of eternity.