Bridgeton pioneer., 1912-05-02
The Joy Of Christ
His Sinless Mature and
Infinite Love


Lord Jesus when he was with
us. We think of him as the
Man of sorrows" and rightly He
carried bis sorrows;" the burden Of
our guilt was upon him. He was so In
sympathy with men that their burdens
and sorrows became his. The incom-
pleteness Of character, the hypocrisy
and deceit which met him everywhere,
the thousand forms of iniquity which
filled the world, our guilt laid upon
his soul. did indeed fill him with sor-
row; there was no sorrow like his.
1t was deep undercurrent that be-
came greater as-he approached the
end. Even when all would seem to be
far removed from this, when the null
titudes were about him seeking his
blessing, we hear him say: MY soul
is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto
DEATH"
But with all this his heart was full
OF Joy. There was sorrow, but there
was no sadness; there was burden,
but there was no disappointment;
there was the keen sense of the guilt
Of sin and of the agony of the atone
ment, but there was no hesitation.
We see the tumult, but he speaks OF
my peace" his own peculiar
peace; we see the suffering, but
his highest wish for his disciples
was that my joy might remain in
you, and that your JOY might bs
full"
Lies Suffering and Happiness.
Suffering and happiness are not
incompatible; sorrow and joy are not
SO antagonistic that they may
not dwell in the same heart. There
is a grace which rises above the suf-
fering, and makes it minister to joy.
1t Is one of the wonderful things of
grace that it SO lifts us up out of our
surroundings and out of ourselves,
that there is perfect peace even when
the suffering Is greatest. We have
seen the victim of disease racked
with pain whose face beamed with
joy, and whose words were songs of
praise. The martyrs sang as they
burned. So with Jesus; at the very
time when his cup was filled to the
O'SA AhO''h6t A0 AdAhCu NltA Ills
disciples out of heart perfectly at
rest.
There was to Jesus the joy of his
sinless nature. We cannot measure
that, but we may sometimes have q
foretaste Of 1t; there may be such .
sense of pardon and of Divine love
that we are as in the presence Of
God huf hiohnct art
ence Is far below the blessedness
which was perpetual in the soul OF
Jesus. To him there was the Joy OF
infinite love. He gave himself for
others. and In their salvation his Joy
was above all suffering. The prayer
OF the penitent thief was to him the
Joy of love prevailing, even over the
thorns and the nails. There to him
was the consciousness of his Fathers
love and support. He dwelt on that
love. Even with the cross before
him, in the communion of the holy
fellowship his very garments shons
with the glory of God. He was
Knocked and scorned, but all the
time he saw his work prevail.
ing.
All Typical Of His Love.
The lame man walking, the dumb
man singing the praise of God, the
dead man coming back to life, were
typical of a greater work of love in
the salvation of men. He thought Of
the man whose sins were forgiv-
en- as one saved, and not simply
healed. The world redeemed was
not present to him. How great the
Joy of that hour as he prayed. Holy
Father, keep those whom thou hast
given mel" We can know but little
of that higher world In which Jesus
lived. for 1t is the world Of perfect
holiness and infinite love, bu. We
see something Of It; we have some
thing in common with him. so that
we can enter into his joy sufficiently
to know that It crowned all labor
and sweetened all sorrow. The
"Man of sorrows let him ever be
US, but also we should open our
hearts to receive the inflowing of his
eyer-Dresent unbounded tOy-IIpifed