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us that he was intreated to visit his friend Lazarus, who had fallen sick, and whose dissolution was visibly approaching. Actuated by that incomparable benevolence, which declared him to be truly divine, he intended to restore his languishing friend to perfect health; but he delayed for two days the performance of this intention, till Lazarus should be actually dead, -in order to manifest the more clearly his own goodness and power, by recalling him again to life and health. Lazarus, in the mean time, expires. sisters, Mary and Martha, by whom he was tenderly beloved, are overwhelmed with grief for his loss. Their neighbours and acquaintance assemble, to mourn with them, and to comfort them. In this complicated distress, they are told that Jesus himself is approaching their house. One of them hastens to meet him,-pleased, in some measure, that he is come to share their sorrows and to console them, but ready to expostulate with him for not coming sooner, as she believed, that, if he had been there, he would have exercised his supernatural power of healing diseases, and her brother had not died." She knew also, “that, even then, whatsoever he would ask of God, God would give it him." Our blessed Saviour knew the best mode of displaying his own benevolence, and of advancing the glory of his heavenly Father. He came resolved to raise Lazarus from the dead :and yet, with this resolution fixed in his mind, he could not but be affected with the scene of anguish that was before him. Mary was prostrate at his

feet, addressing him in the same terms of mild expostulation that her sister Martha had just before used :—“ Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Her neighbours and acquaintance were standing by, sympathizing with her grief, and mingling their tears with hers, Pity, at this moment, overflowed in his heart,-a heart susceptible of every kind, and gentle, and generous emotion. "When he saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled." Compassion worked still more strongly within him. "Jesus wept." He wept with the mournful company, till the Jews, taking notice of his sympathizing grief, cried out, in an ingenuous commendation, "Behold, how he loved him!" Some of them, indeed, who seem to have been inclined to blame him for indulging in a vain sorrow which he himself might have prevented, said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?" They knew not that he was only "weeping with them that wept," that generous compassion gave him a share in the affectionate concerns of others,--and that he sympathized with them, not because he was unable to perform such a miracle as they imagined, but because his natural feelings were excited. For he immediately removed the cause of their grief, and turned it into a transport of joy, by raising Lazarus from the dead! The previous incidents, therefore, have, no doubt, been recorded by the Evangelist,

for the very purpose of shewing, that Christ, in whom the fulness of perfection dwelt, had a keen sensibility to all the sorrows of mankind,-and that compassion is an amiable and generous, as well as a natural sentiment of the human heart.

Now, "whatsoever things were lovely" in the life of our blessed Saviour, must certainly be so, in a parallel degree, in every man. In the instance of which we are speaking, he came, indeed, fully resolved to remove the cause of anguish and lamentation; yet, before he accomplished his purpose, he felt all the tender emotions of pity ;-and he seems to have been impelled the more pressingly by those emotions to its accomplishment. He went forward, sighing deeply with sorrow, to the sepulchre,--and, immediately, by calling forth Lazarus reanimated and restored to health, he caused the scene of grief and misery to vanish.

The tendency of compassion, in this remarkable case, was to alleviate and remove distress; and such, we know, is its genuine purpose in every case,—for we are assured of it by the instincts of our nature, and by the judgment of our minds. Humanity, reason, and religion unite in teaching us to have a tender regard for the welfare of our brethren, and to do our utmost towards lessening their calamities and ¡afflictions.

Every man is urged by the natural impulse of self-love, to ensure, as much as possible, his own particular satisfaction and happiness. By that im

the firm and practical belief of it! If it is false, they still are in as good a condition as the unbeliever. The man, therefore, who refuses assent to this great tenet is, in the most favourable view of his case, no gainer; and, supposing the more reasonable alternative, that he has wilfully or superciliously rejected the truth, he is undone for ever. Who, then, Who, then, that possesses a sound understanding, would hazard his soul, by choosing, of the two probabilities, that which is the more unsafe? Judgment, reason, and prudence, are all on the affirmative side of the question,-yielding numberless pleasures, fervent hopes, and glad expectations, through life,-and securing, when life ends, a calm and holy dissolution. An assent to the negative side generally sinks men into debauchery and intemperance, and hurries them to the grave in the prime and flower of their age. And if it proves, at last, that they have deceived themselves, whither, O whither can they flee, to escape the vengeance of their Almighty Judge! What tongue can declare, what imagination can conceive, the shame and horror, the pain and confusion, with which they will be overwhelmed! Where is the rock that can hide them? Where is the mountain that can cover them? No reserve will avail them,-no evasion can be resorted to. There will be no mirth to allevi ate their condemnation; every thing cheerful and enlivening will, for ever, be withdrawn :--they will be consigned to eternal chains and darkness, and heart-corroding woe.

Be it our care to follow after godliness, in the faith of Jesus Christ, assured as we are, that "when the earthly tabernacle of our frail body is dissolved, we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Let us bless our heavenly Father for revealing to us his will, and providing for us a remedy against sin and perdition. Let us adore our glorious Redeemer, for bringing to light the soul-refreshing assurance of life and immortality. Let us profit by the aids of the Divine Spirit, that our hearts and consciences may be pure, our lives holy, and our final reward certain.

VOL. II.

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