III. IlEOIPIENOY OF THE HIGHEST 0IFT. "I have put my Spirit upon him." God "gave not the Spirit by measure" unto him ( John iii. 34), because he had an immea- surable capacity of receiving it. God's ),ighest gifts to us depend, not on his willingness or ability to bestow, but on our readiness and capacity to receive. God dwelt, by his Spirit, perfectly in his Son, our Saviour, and according to our faith and purity lie will dwell in us. IV. QUIETNESS OF METHOD. "He shall not cry," etc. (vide next homily). V. PATIENT HOPEFULNESS. "A bruised reed," etc. (vide next homily). VI. PERSISTENT ENERGY. "He shall bring forth judgment unto truth;" "He shall not fail," etc. 1. The disregarded and despised Son of man did not fail to speak, to suffer, to work, until his task on earth was complete. 2. The neglected and unknown Son of God, dwelling in the heavens, will not be discouraged until the race ha.~ been regenerated and renewed. Through the instrumentality of his Church he will work on this sin-distracted world until its ignorance be displaced by knowledge, its iniquity yield to holiness of heart and life, its indifference give place to earnest interest and all-constraining love.-C. Vera. 2, 3.-Quietness of method and hopefulness of spirit. That these words are rightly referred to our Lord we have the assurance of Scripture (Malt. xii.), as well as the evidence of their perfect applicability. They remind us of- I. THE QUIETNESS QF HIS METHOD. With a task before him the surpassing greatness of which completely dwarfs every human enterprise, it was a matter of vital consequence that our Lord should adopt the method which would be permanently effective. He might have chosen the loud and violent method. He might have taken (1) the way of the warrior, who seeks to secure his ends by the clash of arms and thunder of cannon; or (2) the way of the vehement and noisy agitator, of the tempestuous rhetorician, of the man who terrorizes over his audience by threats and denunciations. But "he did not strive, nor cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets." He chose the quiet and spiritual method. He adopted the way of God in nature and in man-the way by which God built the mountains and laid down the soil, by which he makes the spring to succeed the winter and the summer to replace the spring, by which he makes the grass to grow in our meadows and the flowers to unfold in our gardens and the corn to ripen in our fields. It is the way by which God constructs the human mind, building it up from the opening intelligence of the child to the full strength and ripe wisllom of manhood; the way by which he develops human character and national strength-by quiet, silent, gradual processes that no eye can see, no ear can he~r, no hand can measure. Jesus Christ deliberately adopted (1) a peaceful method; be emphatically declined and even severely forbade the use of force in his service (Matt. xxvi. 52). He thus discouraged and disallowed compulsion and constraint iu the furtherance of bis kingdom. (2) He also decided upon a quiet method. He shunned rather than sought notoriety (Matt. xii. 16). He did not believe that a tempest of applause or that the fresh breeze of fame would carry his vesssl of righteousness and peace to her harbour. He wanted to persuade, to convince, to win men; to prevail over their judgment, to subdue their will, to hallow their mind, to gain their conscience, to conquer them, themselves. So he went quietly to bis wmk, speaking golden truths to obscure and unlearned men, opening rich stores of heavenly treasure to one man who stole to see him under the shadow of the darkness; to one woman whom he chanced to meet and talk to at the well. Shunning the crowd, disliking noise and tumult, the incarnation of quiet i;trength, the Son of man did his work, lived his life, spake his truth, bore his sorrows. II. 'l'HE PATIENT HOPEFULNESS OF HIS SPIRIT. At what point must we give a man up? Regarding his physical nature, there is a point where medical skill can do no more and "gives him up" to die. Is there such a point in his spiritual course? 1. In nations. Men have contended that some races have been reduced to such a depth of demoralization and brutality that they are irrecoverably lost to virtue :ind piety. But Christian missions have effectually and finally disposed of this contention. 2. In individual men. The idea of the restoration of fallen and degraded men is essentially Ohristian. The most pious and charitable Jew never thought of praying for the redemption of the publican he saw at the counter or the harlot he met in the street; 128 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, [cu. xLn, 1-25.
he wae astonished and in,lignant that tl1e great Teacher should address himself to euch as these. Bnt as there was no one too far gone in sickness for the Lord to heal so wee there no one t.oo foul or too guilty for him to save and to restore. He did not b;.eak the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. 'l'o the repentant publican he eaid "Thie man is a sou of Abraham;" to the weeping woman, "Daughter, thy sins are foraiv;n thee: go in peace." This spirit of patient hopefolness is to be our spirit: (1) In bour treat- m~nt o,f others. Tempted to abandon those to whom we have long made our appc>al in vnm, mchned to regard them as hopelessly deaf, hard, unrcsponsive,-we must break nway from our despondency and enter into the patient hopefulness of our Lord and Leader. (2) In the view we take of ourselves. No man need despair of himself, for Christ docs not despair of him. He hopes good and even great things of those who are ready to abandon themselves to sin and ruin. Look not in, but up. Above is a patient, hopeful Sa dour, who still says to you, "Wilt thou be made whole? "-C.