III. The mind of Christ is distinguished by its _sympathy_ and _ceaseless activity_. He could _weep_ at the grave of Lazarus, before calling back His friend to life. He could _stop_ at the gate of Nain, to cheer the heart of a bereaved widow, by restoring to life her only son. He could condescend to _touch_ the loathsome leper, and thus make him clean. He could _stoop to hold a conversation_ with a penitent adulteress. He could _work a miracle_ to feed a hungry multitude. He could _look_ conviction into Peter's heart, and thus send the faithless Apostle out of His presence weeping bitterly. O there was nothing cold, ungenerous, or selfish in the nature of Christ. He was never too much occupied to listen to the tale of sorrow, nor too dignified to afford relief. He was never unapproachable. The finest sensibilities, the purest affections, the deepest sympathies were exhibited in actions, which, had there been no ultimate purpose in His mission, would have marked Him as a benefactor of our race, and carried down His name and His fame to the latest posterity. And this, in a humbler degree, we are called upon to imitate. How little like the Saviour is the man whose heart is hard, whose temper is irritable, and who has no bowels of compassion for the destitute and afflicted. How little like the Saviour is the man who prides himself upon superior extraction or superior position, and looks down with contempt upon the poor and the penniless. The Son of Man came to seek, and to save the lost: and when John's disciples asked Him for evidence that He was Christ, His reply was simply this: Go tell your master the things which ye have seen and heard; "the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." What an outline is this of the Redeemer's daily toil! How He "went about doing good!" How He wandered among the cities and villages of Judaea and Samaria; sharing the rough hospitality of fishermen--the barley-bread of the poorest peasant; working miracles of healing; teaching doctrines of profoundest import; contending with His enemies, the Pharisees and Scribes; and conducting the minds and the hearts of His disciples and the multitudes away from their superstitions and their prejudices, to the heart of His Father's love, and the results of His own suffering and sacrifice in their behalf: nor did this sublime and ceaseless activity terminate until He hung upon the cross--and then only to be renewed in ceaseless intercession at His Father's throne. And again He left us an example. This active sympathy is the very genius of our holy religion--the spirit which it breathes--the life which it lives--the pure and blessed element in which it grows and becomes perfect. Happy is the man who thus imitates the Saviour--whose "weariness of life is gone," by the employment of his talents and his time in "doing and receiving good."