The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-04-08
JESUS TENDERNESS WAS PASTORS THEME Feeblest Spiritual Life Encour- aged to Hope in Christ THE INCARNATION OF LOVE In All His Teachings, Jesus Addressed the Heart-His Words Were
 Heavy With the Love
 They Held.

The Rev. Dr. James A. Duncan preached
 at the First Methodist church yesterday
 morning on "The Tenderness of Jesus, "
 taking his text from the twentieth verse
 of the twelfth chapter of Matthew: "A
 bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not Quench till
 He send forth judgment unto victory" l The Vanderbilt Glee club rendered musi-
 cal programmes at both morning and 1 evening services.
 Dr. Duncan spoke yesterday morning in
 part, as follows:
 1 The text is a quotation from the forty
 second chapter of Isaiah, and Is one of l those beautiful prophecies of Christ which
 so wonderfully were Illustrated in His life
 on earth. It characterzes His as the most l gentle and tender disposition toward the
 needy creatures He came to save. They are thus 1guratively described by two l emblematic illustrations.
 A reed weak, frail, easily broken, no
 moral vigor. A bruised reed, not only
 weak but also wounded, conscious striok- l en, afflicted, humiliated, ready to despair | Smoking flax, a smoking lamp wick all | most ready to die out most feeble spirit
 ual life struggling for existence. This l bruised reed He will not break, seeming
 ly worthless though 1t be. This smoking wick He will not quench. though 1t seems
 hardly possible to kindle it into a flame
 Instead of this He will send forth judg-
 ment unto victory. He will strengthen the
 reed, and with His Holy Spirit breath new
 life into the expiring spark.
 l These are the emblems of spiritual
 feebleness. Is there single soul here to- | day that does not feel that he has at least the strength of the bruised reed? 1 At least the life of the smoking wick? l To you, then, who feel thus, as well as l those who are consciously stronger and
 possessors of greater vitality, these words come today "A bruised reed shall He | not break. and smoking flax shall He not quench till He send forth judgment unto | victory" These words suggest the fol- lowing topic for our meditation: The feeblest spiritual life encouraged to hope in the Lord Jesus.
 Hope in the Tenderness. l 1. We are encouraged to hope in the tenderness of Jesus. Not break the bruised
 
 | beautiful manner of expressing the in- | finite tenderness of the Son of Man! Does | not such language tring to us at once | a vision of Jesus clothed in love so | great that 1t sees not only the weakness, l the life well nigh gone, but at the same l time sees that there Is still life, and im- ,mediately sets to work to apply restora- ' tives and to cheer the sufferer.
 l His whole life is a commentary on these
 words of the gospel. There was abundant
 occasion for harshness. Who was ever
 tried as He? There was abundant occasion
 for severity; what Kings son, with power | in his hand, was ever treated with such reviled not again. When the disciples
 would call down fire on the inhospitable 1 Samaritans for their treatment of Him.,
 1t seems to me that can see sad smile | on His face as He said to these im- | petuous sons of thunder: "Ye know not l what manner of spirit ye are of" l What did they know about strengthen
 ing bruised reeds, and kindling smoking | wicks into flames? How magnificent how 1 infinitely high above all others does Jesus
 stand In His marvellous tenderness | Tenderness of Manner. | 1. Although we do not know Just what | the appearance of Jesus was, yet I am | sure that His very manner, and coun- | tenance, must have been a marvel of ten-
 derness. His presence must have been a
 soothing presence. Little children could | not have left their mothers arms and | flocked eagerly to one who was not gen | tie. Martha could not have come to one | who was forbidding in manner and ask | that he make Mary assist her with the work of the house. 1 think that the face of Jesus must have been very beautiful Not of necessity beautiful with that reg
 uarity of feature we usually associate with the idea of a beautiful face, but rather beautiful because of the light that | shone through the face from a holy fire burning in the heart.
 And because of this 1ove-light that was l so clearly seen, He soothed all who came near Him. am sure that one might have | looked into the depths of His clear eyes
 and seen the glories of the kingdom of heaven within Him. These things are not | speculations about Jesus. He who was 1 the Lamb of Cog must in very appear | ance have been gentle; He who was the | very incarnation of love so great that
 1t passeth knowledge. could not but be tender in every line of His countenance Gentle Teaching.
 | 2 This tenderness of Jesus is seen in | all His teaching. When he went into the synagogue at Nazareth He took for His text the words of the Prophet Isaiah, de- | scriptive of Himself and His work: "The 1 spirit of the Lord Is upon Me, because He hath annointed Me to preach the gos- pei to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal | the broken hearted, to preach deliver
 ance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" What could be tenderer
 than for a great teacher to tell the world
 that His mission was to the poor, the
 broken hearted, the bruised ones? What
 could be gentler than the opening words of the sermon on the mount: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.n Is it any wonder that the common people heard Him gladly?
 It Is sometimes asked if Jesus ever
 smiled. We are told that He wept, partly
 1 think it must be, because a smile was
 habitual to Him, and 1t was necessary for the world to know that even He who l in the midst of the greatest trials ever d,, hsr aiaa nre th did ha hitIallyr