The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-11-11

were His especial friends tor whom He enter
tanned particular regard, and at whose house
He liked to dwell Hie relations with them
were very close and intimate, as is shown by
| His raising Lazarus from the grave and by the
confident words of hartns. Lord, II sIts Thon
| And he loved little children, true sign OF man
| hood. When they were brought TO Him, He
| or sought for He took them in His arms and
| blessed them. In all this He was our brother.
| He was also our brother in sensltveness of
spirit, the prospect of His sufferings making
Him exceedinga sorrowful, even unto DEATH
He was sensitive as TO the estimation In which
the world held him, excaimng, at one time
"Are, ye come out as against q thief, with
swords and staves for to take meW
SO He was our brother In being subject unto
temptation, as we are. Although so pure and
Puileless, He was not free from the Temptation
TO sin; His hunger in the mountain was no
sham hunger; He was in actual suffering for want
OF tood. This the Devil knew when he cum
manded him to turn the stones into bread. In
the plenltude OF His power, He could have done
so, and the temptation thus to relieve His dis
tress was great; but He knew that to do IL would
De to violate the laws Of God. And when He was
commanded to come down from the cross was
mere no temptation foI Him to exercisa His
miraculous power to escape His aponvS He
was tempted by Peter, VIII" yben He baS
told how He must go ur, 10 .TerusaIem and ant.
TI,,so ao,u 80 w t t far from thee Lord.n
49, W very words which the Devil had
and when He saw how the devil was thus making
use, use OF Peter to tempt Him, He exclaimed,
! "Get thee behind me- Satan ~
! so he was our brother ir nm earnest vearnng
for hum an sympathy. there are times when
Sl. Tou Is nGV enough J or the Christian, when he
longs 20 clasp the aud Of friend; and thus It
how Tie TeH yeeTned ~ the last supper lie Sho|eu
rn,ittS az e'ine' for human sympathy, Wnep II
peTInI'ed pIan one of the disciples, whom He loved,
into fbe o. a His bosom. And when He went
Of the arden to pray, He took with Him three
near disciples, desiring TO have His friends
H. We dim in this hour Of distress. But when
? returned to them, He found them asleep,
-od rebuked them by saying, What could you
I not watch with me one hourW And He came to
them a second and third time for sympathy,
finding them again asleep.
Thus in body, soul, and spirit, He was our
brother; but He was not ashamed of the rela-
tonship. 1t sometimes happens that those who
are brothers in blood are ashamed OF each other
This happens under various circumstances Two
, brothers may grow up together, be nourished
, a. the same trencher; and yet one may attain q
high elevation in the world, and be ashamed OF
his humble kinsman. So one may possess such
a superiority OF character that he may be
ashamed of the other; and again one may sho Y
the other all manner OF kindnesses, receiving
nothing but ingratitule in return, until at last
he is ashamed of the ties of blood.
But Jesus is not ashamed of His brethren.
Because of our degradation, because we have
; disobeyed His commands, and rejected His love,
7 He might justly be ashamed of us. But He IS
, not, and for several reasons. The first is be-
cause of His love for US. Then, too, He has
been one of us, and is acquainted with our ma
i ture, AMI its yearnings and temptations. He
knows the good that is in us; and, despite all
2 our shortcomings, there is in us much that is
: good. Some OF US, indeed are so good that they
are too good for this world, and wisely shut
= themselves up in colsters. But Jesus has been
one of us, and knows that we still love Him,
although we may appear to deny our love. This
is beautifully illustrated by the response made
! by Peter, when Jesus said to him. "Simon Peter
> son OF Jonas, lowest thou me more than these p
1 Peter answered, Yea Lord; Thou knowest that
/ love Thee" Yes, He knows that we love Him
and therefore He is not ashamed of us. He also
knows our struggles, and that we are ever girl
ing on the amor, notwithstan ding our reverses
D | He sees that there is much good in us, and He
:, loves us because of it, and is not ashamed o
e Therefore He has owned us as His brethren
t The family tie was very strong in Him; and ye
. on one occasion, when He was told that Eli;
# mother and brethren stood without and desired
O to speak with Him, wishing to make the ocCa.
y sion one for showing His great love for all man
kind, He said, who is My mother, and who are
c My brethrenW Stretching forth Hts hand towards
q His discples He continued, "Behold My mother
and Ny brethren! For whosoevcr shall do the
will OF My Father which is in heaven, the same
is My brother, and sister, and mother" There is
| frequent testimony similar to tins, and IN the
18th verse of this chapter (HebreWs iD il is eX-
pTessly stated that 'In all things it beloved
' Him to be made like unto His brethren" And
what are His words at the judgment seat!
Z verify say unto you, inasmuch as ye have
done IT unto one of the least of these My breth-
rem, ye have done it unto Me-" Yes, before the
: | assembled universe lie will not be ashamed to
/ own us as His bretbren-the helpless child, the
oppressed slave, the humble freedman, the
abandoned outcast; all will hear these glad
words, "Holy Father those that Thou gaYest
$ Me have kept and none OF them is lost"
r Our duty, then, is plain, If Christ is our
, brother, we are all brethren OF each other, and
should so bear ourselves. II is natural that the
world and the Church should exhibit a GOODNESS
and dstrust towards each other; but it does not
become the brethren of Christ 10 wrangle
among themselves. It is likewise our duty to
love Him as our elder brother Although He is
the Captain of our salvation, He is one of us,
and exercises faith with us. the speaker closed
his discourse with an eloquent appeal to those
among the audience who had not accepted this
] La1.ln Of 20 xinnn.