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THE KING’ S BUSINESS
took in all men, it took in the good, but it took in the vilest as well. It took in men like John and Nathaniel, but it took in also the demoniac o f Gadara, the thief on the cross, the woman with seven devils, and the woman who was a sinner. It took in His enemies for whom He prayed even as He endured the agonies and the re proaches and the shame they heaped upon Him, ‘‘Father, forgive them for they, know not what they do.” His love hesitated at no sacrifice. “ Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9, R. V .). “ Being in the form of. God, He counted it not-a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form o f a servant, being made in the likeness o f men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, even the death o f the cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful love, that, seeing full equality with God Himself in honor and glory,, turned His back upon all this and chose the cow stable for His birthplace, the poor carpenter shop for His school,, the contempt arid rejection o f men for His reward, the agony o f Gethsemane and the shame and ignominy and torture o f death upon its cross for its consummation, because by these things He could save the vile and worthless and outcast. Well might Isaiah say that Jesus’ name should be called Wonderful. There are many other perfec tions in the character o f Jesus, e. g., the perfection o f His meekness and gentleness and humility and patience and courage, and manliness, but we cannot stop to dwell upon these now. Enough has been sajd to show that He is wonderful in character. III. Jesus Is Wonderful in His Work. But as wonderful as Jesus is in His nature and in His character, He is not won derful in His nature and character alone, He is also wonderful in His work. 1. In the first place He made a perfect atonement for sin. “All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to
been hunting for some flaw in the charac ter o f Jesus and they cannot find it. What would not the infidels give if they could only put their finger upon one single flaw, even one little defect in that character, but they cannot. Even the bitterest and boldest and most unscrupulous infidel o f his day was forced to say, “ I wish to say once for all that to that great and serene man I pay, I gladly pay, the homage o f my admi ration and my tears.” Jesus in the perfec tion o f His character is indeed wonderful. He is the wonder o f the ages. He stands out absolutely peerless and alone. When any man ventures to put any one else along side o f Jesus Christ he at once loses the confidence o f all candid and fair-minded men. 1. Jesus was perfect in holiness. Peter spoke o f Him as “ The holy One and the just” (Acts 3:14). John spoke of Him as “the Holy One” (1 John 3:20). Even the unclean Spirits when they met Him were forced to cry out to Him, “ I know thee, who thou art, the Holy One o f God” (Mark 1:24). The epistle to the Hebrews speaks about Him as “ holy, guileless, unde filed, separated from sinners.” He passed through all our experiences of conflict and temptation yet “without sin” (Heb. 4:15). The dazzling white light that glorified the face and garments o f Jesus on the Mount o f Transfiguration was the outshining of the moral purity within. 2. But He was not only perfect in holi ness, He was also perfect in love. His love to God was perfect and so was His love to man. His love to God revealed itself in His unhesitating obedience to every command o f God, in His unreserved sur render to God’s will, in His drawing back from no sacrifice that God demanded, in His delight in doing God’s w ill; a delight so great that forgetting the long denied demands o f bodily hunger, He could triumphantly say, “My meat is to do the will o f Him who sent me and to accom plish His work” (John 4:34, R. V .). His love to God was absolutely perfect, but So was His love to man. His love to man
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