The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1910-05-05
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
Or. ALLAN D. CARLlLE.
Theme: The Tears OF Je~us.

nue. Presbyterian Church, preached
Sunday morning on THE Tears OF
Jesus" The text was from John
11:35. In the course of his sermon
DR.. Carlile said:
There never was manller man
than Jesus. When His masculine
traits are assembled, He towers
among men supreme for courage, will
power, fixity of purpose and persever-
ance in the face of obstacles. 1t Is
true Jesus embodied human nature
and therefore we see in Him, as in
no other strong man, the distinctive
feminine traits of sympathy, gentle
ness and love. But these did not pre-
dominate. Jesus is unique In that In
His character both the masculine and
feminine virtues blended harmon
iously. He is always gentle and al
ways strong. So that our text repre-
sents Him not only with the tender
ness of the woman who weeps easily
but also in the awful agony of the
strong Man in tears. And when we
draw near to our Saviour's sorrow
and study the occasion for It, we get
an insight into His character not 9TH
erwise disclosed. Three times He Is
represented thus to US. Let us rev.
IbTeulli Dtuulu Ills SOIlOM anu aoh
Him why He weeps.
l. We come first to the occasion
referred to in Luke 1874, where He
weeps over the city Read the text
and catch the pathos Of 1t. There are
two elements in Chrlst's sorrow here,
lesser and a greater. He mourned
the destruction of that city, and for
what that destruction typified. There
are lessons for us in both. The first
Indicates Jesus love of place. 1t may
)eem little thing, but like to recall
)he fact that Jesus was and ever will
be associated with places on this
harth. He loved Jerusalem. Some
people scoff at the idea of holy
places" The poet Montgomery asks,
soornfuily:
''what's holy ground? Has Earth
clod
Its Maker meant should not he trod
BY Man, the image of his God, erect
and free?"
Perhaps not, but that is nothing
against holy places. It is natural to
love our birthplace to hold in sacred
reverence the sanctuary where we
first found Christ and the field where
lies the dust of loved ones. And Jesus
loved the Holy City. He had peculiar
reasons for doing so. Had 1t not been
the trysting place of Cod and His
people for ages? Besides that, Jeru-
salem was and Is unique. Like Mel
chisedek himself, its history has no
beginning, and 1t has always been and
always will be a holy city. It's first
king was a priest of the most high
God. It is to this day the object OF
the pilgrimages of the three greatest
eligions-Jewish, Mohammedan and
Chrlstian--and in prophetic pictures
1t is destined to be again the most
sacred city of the world, when Israel
shall be brought back with Joy and
singing and the glory of God once
more fill His sanctuary.
The wise men tell us that this,
world will be destroyed; that 1t will
be blown to fragments by its internal
fires, or wrecked in collision with
some other world. or be frozen dead
by its own cooling. In some way or
other they are sure it will be de-
stroyed. But doubt 1t. Jesus abides
unchanged, and in His regard for and
relation to this little world is Just
what He was. When Peter and John
healed the lame man at the temple
gate they invoked the name of Jesus
OF Nazareth" That Is His name In
heaven. Destroy the world and we
will forget how He got His title. He
who wept over the city, how would
He weep over the world He came TO
save / do not believe anything in
the universe Is going to be destroyed.
For it is written. THE creation itself
shall be delivered from the bondage
OF corruption Into the glorious liberty
OF the children of God" The uni
verse is waiting for the redemption
OF our body" Matter mind and soul
are to be redeemed, not destroyed.
But Jesus love of place is not suf-
ficient TO explain these tears. There
was agony infinitely deeper than that
in the thought of what the city's
downfall meant to the people for
whose salvation God had done so
much Not that the work of God
would fail. He was able OF the stones
TO raise up children unto Abraham.
The door should be thrown wide open
and the Gentiles would come in. But
Gods love is not fickle. and the
thought of Israel, whom He loved and
still loves. children of the covenant,
heirs of the promises. doomed by
their own soul-blindness to be scat.
tered among the nations, a people
without home. like Abraham,
Strangers and pilgrims" on the
earth, for centuries to be made 20
suffer what they had made Him, their
greatest Prophet. suffer, who was
despised and rejected OF menl"-this
was what aBonized the Saviour. Here
His tears were for the ancient people
OF God.
e. The second instance shows His
sympathy for mon In the ordinary
sorrows OF life. II happened at the
tomb OF Lazarus, and II Is from that
story that our text is taken. Under.
stand. this is case OF pure sympathy
He was not weeping for the death oi
Lazarus. Such an Interpretation does
violence to the account as we have t.
Read the whole chapter. He knew
that Lazarus was to die. He knew
that II was that the Son OF Mar
might be glorifed thereby" He
stayed away from Bethany that he
might have time TO die. And He
knew that He would raise him from
the dead. So far as regards Lazarus
there must have been In Jesus hear
great and solemn Joy as He stood be
fore that tomb. But In the pause be
fore He works His mightiest miracl,
He feels the thrQb of anguish In tn,
sisters hearts. No faith In His i'm
mediate help; no hope there, and Hi
perception OF the awful agony tha
death brings TO blind, unbelieving ys
L. t.stw all