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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
compassion
and
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
son
of
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