146 A HOPEFUL YOUTH [SEEM. YYtr. was our Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh : He, from his very childhood, grew in wisdom, and in stature; and in favour with God and man, Luke ii. 52. He had further discoveries of divine love made to him daily: and as his acquaintance increased in his younger years, so did his friends too, till his divine commission made it necessary for him to oppose the corruptions of his coun- try, and reform a wicked age, and thus expose himself to the anger of a nation. that would not be reformed. There. was something lovely in his human nature, beyond the common appearance of mankind ; for his body was a temple, in which the godhead dwelt in a peculiar and transcendent manner, and his soul was intimately united to divinity. I cannot but think, that, in a literal sense, he was fairer than the children of men, and that there was grace on his lips, and a natural sweetness in his language, Ps. xly. 2. If the Jews beheld no comeli- ness in him, if his visage was marred more than the sons of men, it was because he was a man of uncommon sor- rows, and acquainted with grief; which might cast something of heaviness or gloom upon his countenance,' or wear out the features of youth too soon. But surely our Lord, in the whole composition of his nature, in the mildness of his department, and in all the graces of conversation, was. the chiefest of ten thousands, and al- together lovely. How amiable are those who are made like hirn? Such was John the beloved disciple; you may read the temper of his soul in his epistles : What. a spirit of love breathes in every line? What compassionand ten- derness to the babes in Christ? What condescending of ection to the young men, and hearty good-will to the fathers, who were then his equals in age? With what obliging language does he treat the beloved Gaius, in his third letter; and with how much civility, and hearty kindness, does he address the elect lady and her chil- dren, in the second ? In his younger years, indeed, he seems to have something more of fire and vehemence, for which he was surnamed . A sonof thunder, Mark iii. 17. But our Lord saw so much good temper in him, mixed with that sprightliness and zeal, that he expressed much pleasure in his company, and favoured him with peculiar honours and endearments above the rest. Th4
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