What shall we say to it all? What shall we say but, 'How good of Him! How truly He must love us, for why should He have done it except that He loved us? And we should be right in saying so. It was good of Him; very good; good and noble and generous. For consider; what are we and what is this world, that He should love us so? When we look into the starry sky on some clear night and think of all those millions of worlds, does not the thought strike us with wonder that God, the Great God Almighty, should care so much for this little earth in which we live? -And again, when we drive through some populous city and see the multitudes that pass by; many, (alas! we know the truth of what we say only too well,) many intent only on making money, many intent solely on pleasure, many degraded with the lower pleasures of sin-drunkenness and so forth; does not the thought break forth, Was this the world for which Jesus Christ was content to die? Lord, what is man that Thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that Thou so regardest him!'—And when we consider our own lives and what poor lives they are and how little they are worth, does not the thought rise naturally to our minds, 'How can Jesus Christ care for me?' 'How canst Thou think so well of me, Yet be the God Thou art, Is darkness to my intellect, But sunshine to my heart?'* Ah! that is just where the difference between us *Faber's Hymns. and the Lord Jesus lies. We would not sacrifice ourselves unless we were assured the object was well worth it; but He stooped to no such bargaining thought. Enough for Him that the world needed a Saviour; enough for Him that it was slowly dying from the poison of sin: He would save it though it cost Him His life, and pain, and shame, and agony of soul. He would save mankind though he should be despised and rejected of them: He would save them though not one in ten would thank Him for it. O may God help us to know the love of Jesus Christ; to know how truly and how deeply He loves each one of us, yes, each one of us. And may God help us also to follow Him in His noble love of mankind.-When we see that any one wants help, let us not stop to consider how much it will cost us. When we see some poor brother or sister needing some self-sacrifice on our part, let us not stay to think whether they are worth it. And in so doing we shall understand something of the love of Jesus Christ: we shall begin to understand His Life and Character, and to know Him in a way that we have never done hitherto. Let us pray. Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. O Lord God, who in Thy Son Jesus Christ hast given us an example of a perfect life; Help us, we beseech Thee, so to study the history of His life that E we may ever grow in the knowledge of His character, and love Him more and more.-O Lord, we pray Thee give us grace to follow in His footsteps; Help us to love all men as He loved them, and to labour and deny ourselves for their sakes even as He did; that we may be made like unto Him, and please Thee as He pleased Thee.-Grant this, O Lord God, for His name's sake. Amen. X. THE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST. HIS EARNESTNESS. (By 'FIDELIS.') 'I must be about My Father's business.'-LUKE ii. 49. LAST Sunday we considered Christ's noble selfsacrificing love of mankind: we saw how His great love for us all, both good and bad, caused Him to come down from heaven to live amongst us and die for us so that we might be saved from sin. To-night we will think of His life and character as a man. What was the motive of His life? What was the one thought of His daily life from boyhood to the hour of his death? Listen to the first words that are recorded "of the Lord Jesus, for they give the key to His whole life-'I must be about my Father's business.'-He said that when He was but twelve years old, and what are the last words that He utters on the cross? 'It is finished.'-' Are not these words an echo to the first? I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do. It is finished! Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit,'-and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. This then was Jesus Christ's idea of life—to serve God truly all the days of His life-to do His duty—to do God's work. Is it not the noblest idea that any one can form of human life? Search all the books of all the philosophers and religions in the world and you will find no nobler idea of life than that which Christ uttered when He was but a boy of twelve years old, 'I must be about my Father's business.' Why'must'? Why, 'I must be about my Father's business? Because He was afraid that if He did not do the work which God had appointed Him to do He might suffer for it? No! He did not say 'I must, from fear, but from love; because He loved His Father, and longed to please Him and to serve Him. How do we know that He served God from love and not from fear? Let us turn to the Gospels, and especially to the 4th chapter of St. John's Gospel, and we shall find our answer there. It is eighteen years or more since He said 'I must be about my Father's business;' He is now about thirty years of age, and has grown up to be a man.—It is a hot summer's day, and all the country of Samaria is parched and glowing with the scorching rays of the eastern sun. It is about twelve o'clock, the very hottest time of the day, when see! a small company of travellers approaches us and passes on to rest at a well close by, round which some trees have been planted to give shade and shelter from the heat. They must have travelled some distance, perhaps they have been travelling since early morning, for they are evidently tired, and one especially looks wearier than the rest. |