Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1922-09-07


ted that He
mingled His tears with theirs. The
friends Of the family seeing this, said,
Behold how He loved him."
These tears reveal His grief on
account of mans guilt, blindness and
them as hen gathereth her brood
beneath her wings, and they would
not.
These tears reveal the divine esti-
mate of sin. 1t was not thing to
be treated lightly. We joke about it,
done, excuse, compromise, and
temporize with it; but not so the
Lord. Only tears could express His
thoughts and feelings about it.
There is a tradition that Jesus
never smiled. That may be true or
false. We know He had joy con-
slant, deep, full and complete-"Who
for the joy set before him endured
the cross (Heb. IL Ply; "These things
have I spoken unto you that my joy
might remain in you" (John Is :11) I;
"That they might have my Joy full
filed In themselves John II :13) {;
ENTER thou into the Joy Of thy Lord"
Matt. 25 :21).
These expressions do not present a
doleful, uninviting Christ. To many
He is unattractive, it is true. They
see His married visage, man of
sorrows, despised and rejected. View
ing Him from the outside, He looks no
more inviting than the Tabernacle in
the wilderness with its rough, uncouth
and uninviting exterior. There was
no beauty without; it was all within.
But to those who know Him, what
rapturous and ravishing beauty He
contains. He is the Bright and Morn
ing Star, the Dayspring from on high,
the Sun of Righteousness, the one alto
gether lovely, and the chiefest Of ten
thousand to the soul.
Even His tears are made crystal
medium to radiate His glory. For He
was here to save lost world; and in
His great redemptive work, He was
touched with feeling of our infirmity
(Heb. 4 :15). In order that He might
have compassion on the ignorant and
those that are out of the way, He was
himself compassed about with infrm-
tiles (Heb. 5:2) tempted in all points
as we are; and afflicted in all our at
f1ictions. What merciful and sym
pathetic Savior!
He wept over worlds sorrow. This
be did at the grave of Lazarus. A
great bereavement had befallen Mary
and Martha in that death; the great
enemy Of life had tragically disorgan-
lied their home, leaving behind torn
and bleeding hearts, needing comfort
and sympathy. This Jesus gave not
with His tears only but His sublime
assurances of the resurrection.
He wept over worlds guilt. It
was in Gethsemane where the guilt
Of sin in all its awfulness, it's dread,
it's terror, came upon Him overwhelm-
ingly. In becoming the worlds sin
bearer, He was to suffer the hiding
of Gods face, the awful abandonment
Of the cross. Thus sin has upon it,
from the divine side, the tears and
sweat of Gethsemane-the blood and
agony Of Calvary.
He wept over worlds blindness.
You can hear sob in these words "Oh
Jerusalem, Jerusalem How \ often
would 1 have gathered thy children to-
gether, as hen doth gather her brood
under her wings, and We would not I"
Eye will not come to me that We might
have life" 1t was Israeps rejection,
blindness, false security, blasted hopes,
fearful retribution and centuries Of
misery, which drew his tears as he be-
held the Inflated city.
During one of those bloody Paris
communes, godly priest was exc
cuted. Afterwards, in searching his
cell for valuables, attention was drawn
to the window, which was in the form
Of a cross, by some writing on the
casing surrounding it. Upon exami-
nation, the word height" was found
On the lintle, "depth" on the sill be-
meath, length and breadth on the
ndes. So the tears Of the Master pre-
tent to us the length and depth, the
height and breadth Of the love Of God.
EAar Thor God