The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1908-12-30

SAShS IA Wv AkAo AS0AA -
They that are whole have no need
of the physician. but they that are
sick" r..-.t-
When the multitude penetrated the
desert whittier He had gone for retire
ment and needed rest, when He be-
held their desire for Him and knew
the hunger and heart sickness that
impelled them to seek Him, "He was
moved with compassion on them be-
cause they were scattered abroad as
sheep having no shepherd"
When the blind and the demented
cried unto Him, the Lord of Light
and Spirit was mighty in deed. When
the leper Of Galilee knelt before Him
Saying, IF Thou wilt Thou canst
make me clean," His heart was
touched. And Jesus, moved with
compassion, put forth His hand and
touched him and saith unto him, I
will; be thou clean"
Oh, the mighty love of Jesus! It
met that dear motheria the gate of
Main and did for her what none in all
the city could do, restore to her her
son. Can any of you imagine the
wonder and Joy ~unspeakable that
came to her when Jesus delivered
him to her?
J. One of the striking characteristics
of the compassion of Jesus Is its in
goes out to the multitude and to the
individual, to the stranger as freely
as:to the friend, to the Jewtand to the
Gentle. His heart went out for tha
city and He wept over 1t and His
heart went out to the lone woman in
need of a Saviour. The one essential
was that there exist a grief, a burden,
a sorrow and Immediately His help
was Forthcoming. Where the sick
were. gathered by their friends, or
among the porches by the pool where
the impotent lay, there was Jesus to
bless. No custom delayed Him, no
fear for life nor WEAKNESS of the
flesh restrained Him, but freely He
administered unto all who called upon
Him.
Another characteristic Of Jesus
kcompassion Is its attitude toward evil.
He does not'tell the blind man that
1t. is best for him to remain blind. nor
does He point out to the leper that
there are compromising blessings that
come through his affection. His ac-
ton Is rather to strike at the evil that
Is responsible for their condition. /
dare say that He could have visited
the widow Of Main and through His
revelation of the heavenly home and
the Fathers love He could have light
ened her heart of much of Its sorrow.
But His way was that Of the most in
cisive action against the cause Of her
grief. AfHiction and sorrow and pain
are not regarded by Jesus as divinely
sent nor to be unnecessarily borne.
He opposed them, He threw the
weight of His teachings and life
against everything that tended to pro-
duce them. He set a priceless value
not only upon human life, but upon
the liberty that life was to enjoy, and
everything that bound and dwarfed
that liberty He fought unto the end.
Oh, what a Judgment upon this coun-
try, where human life is held so
cheaply, where men perish by thou
sands upon the railroads and In the
mines, where grinding Industrial life
sweeps pinching poverty into the
homes, where s~elfshness and pleasure
allow disease and suffering to spread
far and wide with rayaging hand!
Jesus fought this misery and gave
Himself [~unstintedly to unburden the
lives Of men. h, h "a
And now in approaching the final
consideration Of this theme 1t is inn
portant that we bear in mind the
steps thus far taken, for they have an
immediate bearing upon what. Is to
follow. We have seen that Jesus was
In fullest sympathy with all who car
ried a burden, and that all such found
a way Of approach to Him at all times.
In the second place, we have seen
that He was In such accord with His
Father in heaven that the mtghtiest
| of works were possible unto Him and
were accomplished through Him to
relieve human sorrow. And we have
seen, too, that His loving compassion
knew no, bounds, that it embraced
the individual as well as the multi
tude, that 1t left no one with whom
He came in contact outside His at
lection. And lastly, we have consid-
cred the fact that Jesus opposed Him
| self to evil in whatever form 1t was
found, and regarded pain and Attic
ton as enemies@to be trodden under
foot.
Dear friends, while we have been
talking about Jesus we have in reality
been talking about our heavenly
| Father. While we have been consiG-
! ering the compassion of Jesus we
have been discussing the loving COM
passion of God. The former is the
perfect manifestation of the latter.
All that has been said of Jesus COM
passion I now assert to be true OF
| Gods love. If there Is any one here
with a burden, a heavy sorrow, a hid
den grief, let me tell you that you do
not bear It alone. 1t may have
seemed ofttimes that the Father had
forgotten you or had overlooked you
In the multitude, but the very mo-
m1ent that the hour has been dark
est Is the time He has been most
near. He has always kept the way Of
approach open, which Is more than
we can say for ourselves, and often
when our ear heard not and our
heart inclined not His voice has been
calling Come unto Me, all we that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest"
Nor has He overlooked one No
one is beyond the reach of His love.
1t may have been long ago that you
turned aside from Him and you may
feel that you are indeed a stranger
with no claim upon Him. But 1t is
not so. His compassion is without
bound.
.' Life and Death.