The Arvada enterprise., 1912-03-28
The Following Address Wa.
Delivered by Rev. C. T.
Bragaw on Sunday,
March II.

ASA&AA ~
Because thou knowest not the time
Of thy visitation. st. Luke XlX:-4.
These are the closing words OF
Christ's lament over Jerusalem. AS
He is on His way from Bethany He
crossed the Mount Of Olives and be-
ran to descend towards the valley Of
Kedron, the city came into view. He
did not speak at once; 1t was only
when He had come near-that Is, had
descended slight declivity, and then
had mounted an Intervening ridge,
that He beheld the city and wept over
It. He was no doubt reminded OF the
words of the temple prophet-"A great
prophet is risen up among us and God
hath visited His people" Yes Israel
had been visited and Christ was the
visitor. He came unto His own and
His own received Him not" Present
ly all would be over; the visitation
would be ended by the death OF the
Visitor in agony and shame and He
Himself, it is plain, already thinks
of 1t as over, and after the manner
Of the ancient prophets He anticipates
a. present future which has not yet
arrived He places Himself in thought
In its midst, and He cries. Thou
knowest not the time OF thy vista
ton"
On Palm Sunday, the 31st Of March,
We will celebrate this visitation. Let
US remark two characteristics OF this
visitation OF Jerusalem by It's mon
arch. 1t was unobtrusive and 1t was
anal. There was nothing OF outward
pageant or Of royalty to greet the Son
Of David; there was not even the
amount of circumstance of state which
attends the reception Of a visitor to
some modern institution. AS lsraePs
true King visits Jerusalem, He always
reminds us of a descendant of an an.
eient family returning In secret TO
the old home OF his race; everything
brings precious memories; every stone
Is dear to him, while He Himself Is
forgotten He wanders abount un-
noticed, unobserved, or with only such
notice as courtesy may accord to
presumed stranger. He Is living amid
thoughts which are altogether un-
shared by the men whom He meets
a. he moves silently and sadly among
the records Of the past. and he passes
away from sight as he came, with his
unrecognized, II, indeed, He is not dis
missed as an upstart with contempt
and insult. So 1t was with Jerusalem
and It's Divine Master. "He came
unto His own and His own received
Him not
Jerusalem, the home of Gods elect.
which had been considering for ages
the promises Of prophesy, did not un-
derstand what was going on and what
she was called to do when her Lord
came with mercy and with judgment
to try her heart, and therefore at this
moment when He was come near and
beheld the city. He wept over 1t and
He saw before Him, in spite of the
hosannas Of the multitude. a city and
people favored beyond all people.
who yet had after all missed the great
work. missed the great prize which
God had set before them, and for
which He had been so long preparing
them. The hope OF Israel, that for
which they had been waiting for hun
dreds of years; that for which they
had endured so much; that which they
had all believed in and trusted to in
the very depths Of their affiiction, the
hope of Israel, the longeXpected
Saviour had actually come and they
would not know Him. No wonder that
Jesus gave vent to that expression of
sorrow If thou. eUen thou, hadst
known in this day the things which
belong to thy peace!" Here was the
moment come to blot out all their sin,
to repair all their disasters; here was
the moment different from all other
times in their history, in which God
was speaking to them as He had
never spoken before. There, before
their eyes, STOPPING to the humblest,
but splendid In all the royalty Of good
ness and mercy, the loving kindness
Of the Highest was with them, such
as their fathers had never dreamed of.
II in former times they had mlsun-
derstood Gods dealings, here was the
day of redemption, which. If they ac.
cepted II. would more than make up
for all that had gone wrong before,
"lf thou, eUen hOU'-the people
whom God had enlightened and bless,
ed above all other people-'if at least
In this thy day"-when the Son of
God had come to bring peace and
truth in His own person, to speak TO
thee, to small and great, face to face
II thou, after all former sins and fall
ures. hadst-now. at last. Hoi0, in the
greatest OF thy chances-only known
how near thou were to the things
which belong to thy peace; how great
the blessing within thy reach: how
easy to stretch out thy hand to the
unutterable gift-if thou hadst but
knoiDnl
But Jerusalem would not know her
hour OF grace. II passed away and
the Lord saw that It was gone and
He wept over the city which He had
loved; for between Him and His grace
rose the rebellious, obstinate, inheNible
will OF free agents-free to choose the
good as well as the evil The trial
was over. the choice had been made
the things Of peace were hidden from
her eyes Now there was nothing
left but for the terrible choice TO work
itself out, first in the High Priests
palace, at the tribunal Of PLATE, and
on the hill OF Golgotha, Then was
pronounced that prophesy that made
- A.