~ well, opponents have_ not only "rebuked," but tried arrogantly and foroibly to silence, those who have differed from them. But they have not succ'-ieded. Reli<>ious 0 con net ion is an inextinguishable force; slain in the persons of its champions it rises agnin and reappears, often in tenfold power. ' V. RELIGIOUS ENT~'!SIASM. To this the words of 01:1r Lord primarily and most properly apply. Religious fervour may frequently be disposed to take a form which we do not think the best, or even the suitable and becoming. But we must take care how we deal with it. It is not a thing to be suppressed; it is to be encourao-ed and ~nli~htened and_ guided. It is, or it has within it, a true, living power; thi~ power 1s ol ~od, a:nd 1s for good. Abrup~ly and harshly rebuked and silenced, it will only assert itself m other and probably still more questionable forms. Treated with Chris- tian sympathy and encouragement (see eh. x. 49, 60), informed and enlicrhtened by superior intelligence, directed int.o wise channels, it may do a noble wirk for the Master and mankind. 1. Let not a young enthusiasm be mindful only of its own exuberance; let it be regardful of the judgment and feeling of experience. 2. Let experience be tolerant of eager-hearted enthusiasm, and be prepared to count it amono-st its friends.-C. '"
Ver. 41.-The tears of Chrz"st. We are touched by the tears of a little child; for they are the sign of a genuine, if a simple, sorrow. Much more are we affected by the tears of a strong and brave man. When a man of vigorous intelligence, accustomed to command himself, gives way to tears, then we feel that we are in the presence of a very deep and sad emotion. Such were the tears of Christ. Twice, at least, he wept; and on this occasion we understand that he gave free vent to an overpowering distress. The tears of Christ speak of two things more especially. 1 Hrs TEKDEB SYMPATHY WITH BUMAN sonnow. The grief which now overwhelmed the Saviour was (as we shall see) very largely due to his sense of its past and its approaching guilt. But it was also due, in pa.rt, to his foreknowledge of the sufferings its inhabitants must endure. An intense sympathy with human woe was and is a very large element in the character and life of Jesus Christ. 1. It was his compassion for our race that brought him from above-that we by his poverty might become rich. 2. It was this which, more than anything else, accounts for the miracles he wrought. He could not see the blind, and the lame, and the fever-stricken, and the leprous without tendering them the restoring grace it was in his power to bestow. He could not see mourning pa.rents and weeping sisters without healing the heart-wounds he was a.hie to cure. 3. It was this which drew to himself the confidence and affection of loving hearts. It was no wonder that pitiful women and tender-hearted children, and men whose hearts were unhardened by the world, were drawn in trus~ and love to the responsive Son of man, whose step was always stopped by a. human cry, to whose compassion no stricken man or woman ever appealed in vain. 4. It is this feature of his character which makes him so dear to us now as our Divine Friend. For in this world, where sorrow treads so fast on the heels of joy, and where human comforters so often fail us, of what priceless value is it to have in that Everlasting One, who is the Ever-present One, a. Friend who is " touched" with our griefs, and who still carries our sorrows by the power of his sympathy! (1) Let us thank God that we have such a. Friend in him; and (2) let us resolve before God that such a friend will we seek and strive to be. IL HIB PROFOUND B]!;GBET FOB THOSE WHO ABE IN THE WRONG. With what eyes do we look upon human sin when we see it at its worst? How are we affected by the sight of a drunkard, of a. thief, of a foul-mouthed and fallen woman? Are we filled with contempt? Many bad things are indeed contemptible; but there is a view to ho taken which is worthier and more Christ-like than that; a. view which is more humane and more Divine-a feeling of profound pitifulness and sorrowful regret. It was this which filled the heart of Christ when he looked upon Jerusalem, and that ea.lied forth his tearful lamentation. Much was there about that city that might well move his righteous anger, that did call down his strong, unsparing indignation (Matt. xxiii.)- its spiritual arrogance, its religious egotism, its fearful pretentiousness, its deep-seated hypocrisy, its heartless cruelty, its whitewash of ceremony without with all its corruptness and selfishness within. But Jesus fore bore to denounce; he stopped lo cm. x1x. 1-48.J THE GOSPEL ACCOI/.DING TO ST. LUKE. 157