SERMON mother; and she was a widow; and much III. people of the city was with her. All the circumstances in this incident are moving and affecting; and it presently appeared with what tender sensibility our Lord was touched at the sight of so mournful a procession. And when the Lord saw her, he bad compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not; and he came and touched the bier, (and they that bare him stood still,) and be said, Young man, I say unto thee, arise. And be that was dead, sat up and began to speak; and he delivered him to his mother*. The whole scene of raising Lazarus from the grave, places our Saviour's sympathy in the strongest light. As soon as he came among the mourning friends, although he knew the cause of their mourning was speedily to be removed, he could not forbear partaking of their sorrow; He groaned and was troubled in spirit; and when surrounded by a crowd in tears, he approached to the grave of his deceased friend, it is expressly recorded, to the eternal honour of his feelings, Jesus wept; and the Jews said, Behold, how he * Luke, vii. 12—16. III. loved him *.-In like manner, when, for SERMON the last time, he was about to enter into Jerusalem, though the certain knowledge of all the cruelties which were prepared for him there would have filled the breast of any ordinary person with indignation and hatred, instead of such emotions, the foresight of the direful calamities which hung over that devoted city melted his heart; and when he drew near to it and beheld it, he wept; pouring forth that pathetic lamentation; O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a ben doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! If thou hadst known, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are bid from thine eyes! Thus, as a man, he indulged all the amiable feelings of our nature, teaching us that it is our duty to regulate our passions, not to extirpate them. • John, xi. 35. f Luke, xiii. 34. xix. 42. SERMON III. SUCH was Jesus of Nazareth, the founder of our religion. A part only of his character I have now attempted to delineate many other of his eminent graces and virtues have been left in the shade. But in what we have now contemplated of his behaviour as a man among men, we behold a perfect model of the conduct we ought to hold in the ordinary intercourse of society with one another. We have seen him attentive to every opportunity of being beneficent and useful; in his behaviour to all men, affable and obliging; to his friends, faithful and indulgent; to his enemies, generous and forgiving; to the distressed, full of tenderness and compassion. I might also have dwelt upon the peaceable spirit he displayed on all occasions; his respect, as a subject, to the civil laws and government of his country; discouraging a factious and mutinous spirit; paying tribute when demanded; exhorting his followers to render unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's, as unto God those which are God's. Enough has been said to shew what a blessing it would prove to the world, if this illustrious example were gererally fol- SERMON Men would then become happy lowed. III. SERMON IV. On the Wounds of the Heart. IV. PROVERBS, Xviii. 14. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity: but a wounded spirit who can bear? SERMON THERE are two classes of goods and evils belonging to man; those which respect his corporeal, and those which respect his spiritual state. Whatever is of an external nature, is sufficiently the object of attention to all men. In the health and vigour of the body, and in the flourishing state of worldly fortune, all rejoice; and whatever diminishes the one or the other is immediately felt and lamented. These are visible and striking objects, on which our senses and imagination are accustomed |