The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-12-04
THE PULPIT.
BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. JASON NOBLE PIERCE.
Subject: The Compassion Of Jesus.


Jesus" The text was from Luke
T:19: And when the Lord saw her
He had compassion on her and said
unto her, weep not" Mr.. Pierce said:
| have taken as my subject this
morning one of the most beautiful
and comforting themes in the Bible,
The Compassion of Jesus" If there
is any one present in this congrega-
tion who has been experiencing trial
ana suffering, or who has been called
upon to bear some grievous burden
or suffer loss. | ask his attention, es-
pecially, to the consideration of this
theme. And if there is any one here
who would make more sure Of Gods
personal love for His individual chill
dren, let him discover that love as it
is revealed in the compassion of His
Son. our Lord and Saviour.
Briefly but clearly the author Of
our Gospel presents the scene: "Be-
hold. there was a dead man carried
out, the only son of his mother, and
she was a widow; and much people
Of the city was with her" From our
text we know that she was weeping,
and we'll she might, for death leaves
a smarting sting. This was not the
first time she had faced death in the
inner circle of her home. She was a
widow. But how often does the los
ing of one member of the family
make it any easier to part with an
other, especially when it is an only
son, young man. and probably the
main support and stay of his wild
owed mother? Circumstances seemed
to conspire to make the occasion full
of greatest sorrow for her, and as the
procession passes through the city
gate and turns toward the Eurying
ground the burning tears course
down her cheeks and she sees naught,
feels naught. knows naugh. but the
grief that is in her heart.
Of all the helpless ones in Israel
she, passing out of the gate. was most
helpless. And that was the very hour
the mightiest one in all; Israel drew
nigh to the city. Weakness and
strength; human need and divine
help; these are never far separated.
But will the divine grace become OPP
erative? Will the Saviour act?
when the Lord saw her He had
compassion on her and said unto her,
Weep not And He came and touched
the bier; and they that bear him
stood still. And He said, Young man,
| say unto thee, arise. And he that
was dead sat up and began to speak.
And He delivered him unto his
mother"
Halleluiah! What a Saviour!
If the issue could be avoided l
would gladly pass over a discussion
of the miracle involved in this lesson.
But how can L? If I assume that you
all accept the miracles ascribed to
Jesus, make false assumption. for
I know from personal conversation
that some of you have questionings
and uncertainties in your minds. If
I could separate the question of Jesus
compassion from His miracles 1
might do that But how can L?
Everywhere in the Gospels where
Jesus compassion is referred to it is
in connection with some miracle. His
was not an inactive compassion. He
did not do as so many of US do, allow
our sympathy to vent itself in empty
air. His great heart made dem ands
upon a great power, and the sight of
sorrow ever made Him exert Himself
for it's relief. Four times does St.
Matthew and four times does St.
Mark refer directly to Jesus compass
sion, and. upon each occasion do we
find Him working miracle. ST..
Luke speaks directly concerning the
compassion of our Lord only once
and that is in our text. The subject
demands our attention.
There are soma men who are not
greatly troubled concerning the mira
cles. They sweep them all in or all
out of their theological acceptance
with no hard thinking or penetrat-
ing vision. Their theological house
is one of the portable variety, cheap
ly bought, ready made, quickly
clapped together over a foundation
of sand. 1t may serve en- fair day.
but when the test comes now is it?
The rain descends and the floods come
and the winds blow and beat upon
that house; and it falls; and great is
the fall of it.
One of the safeguards of the church
is the number of thinking men and
women within it, who concentrate
not only their hearts, but their minds
unto the Lord, and who mediate
upon Him in the night watches. And
to all such comes sooner or later the
question of the miracles. We wres-
tie with these miracles, we pray over
them, we come to some conclusion
concerning them and our conclusions
are not always alike.
There are some who discriminate
among the miracles. Those they can
explain through understood laws they
accept; She rest they hold in abey-
ance. Some of the most consecrated
and loyal followers of the Master are
among these disciples.
And there are those also who be-
lieve that through Jesus were done
many mighty works. | am of this
mind. This does not mean that we
give unqualified approval to all that
Jesus was said to have done His is
the only instance on record, if it is
so, that all that was said of Him is
true. But it does mean that through
Him deeds were done that the human
mind does not yet understand. 1t
does not mean that Jesus did these
mighty works in His own strength
and of His own knowledge. Il can
OF mine own self do nothing" He
said, but the Father that dWelleth
in Me, He doeth the works"
And the number of thinking men
who hold this belief is fast increas-
ing. not through an increase of faith
by itself, but through an increase oil
experience. The metaphysical world
is yielding up her secrets one by one
and we are discovering that there is
relationship between the seen and
the unseen of which our fathers only
dreamed. Miracles are daily taking
place through human agency cooper,
ating with the laws of God. And il
is because we are coming to better
understand the INTERROGATION oil
forces and the amazing consequence
of certain causes. that we turn to the
Gospels and read with deeper insighI
ana larger faith or the mighty works
IT Jesus.
But l call your attention this morn
ing not to the miracles themselves,
but to their cause; not to an analysis
IF their accomplishment, but to the
ASSORTMENT of that which called
them forth, the compassion of Jesus.
Often the crowd gathered about
Jesus and demanded some marvellous
work, a sign from heaven. He re-
fused them. Men came to Him seek
ing to enlist His power for their sell
hsh gain. but they always departed
i @4I two