On three separate occasions Scripture speaks of Jesus weeping, yet I recall only one place in Scripture telling of Jesus rejoicing. It is found in LUK 10:21, "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight."

On this one occasion we read that Jesus rejoiced in spirit, but our text speaks of His weeping; He was a Man of sorrows, and He was acquainted with grief. The first instance recorded of Jesus' weeping was at the grave of Lazarus.

JOH 11:33-36 says, "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"

"Jesus wept." This is the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is a most powerful verse. Stop and think about the Man of Sorrows who wept. We have a Saviour who can be touched; He can be touched with our weaknesses and infirmities and the things that cause us sorrow. We see in this verse the love Jesus has for His people.

The second occasion is recorded in our text. At the sight of the rebellious, but beloved, city of Jerusalem, Jesus wept. This city of Jerusalem was the beloved of God as we read in PSA 48:2 "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King," but Jesus saw their rebellion, and He saw the consequences and the power of this sin.

The people had rejected knowledge; they refused to hear when He came to them with the truth. They would not receive the truth. "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes," LUK 19:41-42. Why were the things which belong to their peace hid from their eyes? They remained blind because they rejected the truth, refusing to hear.

The third occasion is found in HEB 5:7, "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared." Jesus was heard because He had a holy reverence for the will of His Father.

Our Saviour, who came in our human nature, could relate to every emotion of our heart and soul. When He saw Jerusalem lying in its own destruction, He wept. LUK 19:43-44 continues, "For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another [Now see why this destruction would occur]; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

From there Jesus went into the temple, "...and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves," LUK 19:45-46. He had pointed out to them, told them, taught them, but they had refused to hear.

Verse 47 says, "And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him." This is the rebellion that brought sorrow to His heart; it was rebellion against His holy will.

The Lord Jesus could be touched with the feeling of our infirmities because He was tempted in all points just like we are, "...yet without sin," HEB 4:15. His soul was touched; it caused Him to weep in deep sorrow.

The sorrow of our Saviour in Gethsemane "...when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears," was forced from His bosom by the great burden of our guilt which was pressed upon Him. The sin of His people, i.e., the crown of thorns which was placed upon His head pressed out that "strong crying and tears" in the Garden of Gethsemane over our sins.

It was His desire, commission, and purpose to restore His church into fellowship with the Father. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved," JOH 3:17.

Now we see in GAL 6:1-2, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."

As we become more and more conformed to His blessed image, as we begin to desire to "bear one another's burdens," as their sorrow becomes our sorrow, then we become less critical of our brother's sin; it causes us to mourn over his sin with the desire to restore him.

The law of the gospel requires that we bear one another's burdens; being conformed to the blessed image of Christ, we mourn for their sorrow; their pain becomes our pain, that is what is meant by fellowship in the suffering of Christ.

Our text says, "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it," LUK 19:41. The Greek word for wept is much fuller than sorrow that causes tears to come to the eyes. It comes from the Greek word klaio which means "to sob, to wail aloud." It means His whole heart was moved. Jesus was weeping and wailing out loud. This is much more than just a few tears; it may be properly said that He lamented over the city; He grieved with much sorrow.

The same Greek word is used in MAR 5:38, "And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly." The word wept is used to show a very grievous lamentation; it is much more than a passing tear.

That same Greek word is also used in MAT 2:18, "In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

In other words, the sorrow of the Lord Jesus Christ is comparable to that of the mothers in Rama weeping and wailing over the loss of their children. Jesus saw the loss, the over-throwing, and the total destruction of the city because LUK 19:44 says, "And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

The Lord Jesus Christ saw that the little children, mothers, and families would be slain; He saw the destruction that was coming upon them. Why? They refused to hear. They would not hear; it was not that they could not hear. There is the source of His sorrow; they rejected the truth, the gospel, to the destruction of themselves and their little children. They would be slain because "thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

Now we see the spirit with which the Lord Jesus' heart was moved; our tender-hearted Saviour suffered a deep, inward anguish as the mothers of Rama, "Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not."

Jesus lamented over such a beloved, but such a rebellious city. He showed the depth of His grief by the words of our text. "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it [It wasn't just a few tears shed silently; He wept and wailed aloud over the city, in His languishing], Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day [When salvation was brought to their door by the Lord of lords and the King of kings who came down to preach the gospel to them, `If thou hadst known,' if you had been willing to hear], the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes," LUK 19:41-42. Our Saviour was lamenting over the deliberate ignorance of those who had refused to hear.

Our subject is not the lamentations of Jeremiah, but the lamentations of our lovely Saviour who could more truly say than the weeping prophet, "For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water, because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me: my children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed," LAM 1:16. The enemy of souls had prevailed; they had sinned against light and knowledge. They had refused to be taught the truth.

What was our Saviour's greatest source of grief? His beloved city had left her first love! The city of Jerusalem's name means peace. The enemy of souls had prevailed! In MAT 23:37-38 we read, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee [Do you understand? Do you see why our tender-hearted Saviour was weeping and lamenting? He had sent His prophets but they refused to hear them!], how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."

Stop and analyze that verse; notice the terms how often would I have and ye would not! Will we see any excuses in the Day of Judgment for the ignorance of the city of Jerusalem?

Even those bloody murderers who had stoned the prophets and killed them would have received mercy and been gathered in like a hen gathers her chicks; the Lord would have shown mercy to such a people, but they would not. Therefore, they would experience the desolation and destruction of their city. Instead of repenting and turning from their sins, they stoned the prophets. That is why there was no hope. Now Jesus comes as the Prophet of all prophets, and what are they doing to Him? He has come into Jerusalem knowing He will be crucified, slain.

The occasion was very significant in light of the context of our text; let's turn to LUK 19:37-41 to see this occasion under which Jesus went to Jerusalem.

"And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. [This is the same song the shepherds heard about peace on earth from the angels at the birth of Jesus.] And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it."

Do you see the occasion? Jesus was on His way into Jerusalem for the last Passover. Multitudes laid palm branches in the path before Him and heralded Him as the King of Zion.

How could such a triumph, such a foretaste of His glory, be turned into such a source of grief? Such an occasion was turned into such mourning? As the people were singing the hosannas and proclaiming Him the King of Israel, our Saviour knew how hollow these praises were; He knew many of those same voices which were singing those hosannas would be crying out "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" They were looking for an earthly kingdom where the king would overthrow the Roman yoke. Like Judas, who betrayed him, many were offended when they found out His kingdom was not of this world; Jesus had not come to set up an earthly kingdom.

Our Saviour knew how this joyful entrance into Jerusalem would result in a mournful procession on His way to the cross. He had come to Jerusalem for the last Passover which was fulfilled on the cross.

He knew that those who sang such loud praises had left their first love. The Lord Jesus knew they had not only killed the prophets who had come to Jerusalem before Him, but He knew He was going to Jerusalem to die; He saw that they would kill Him as they had all the other true prophets.

Was this the source of His sorrow, a self-pity? No! LUK 13:34 says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" That is the source of His grief; they would not hear! He saw that the streets would be filled with the slain because they would not hear the truth. He was weeping and sorrowing over the fact that they would not hear all He came to tell them, "...because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation," LUK 19:44.

See how the heart of our Saviour was willing to avert their just doom by gathering those guilty ones under the shadow of His wing, but His lamentations were because they would not!

Much more striking is the fact that His lamentation was not for Himself, but for Jerusalem's doom. The Lord Jesus knew the joyful trip into Jerusalem was to end in a procession where He carried His cross to Calvary. As He said later in LUK 23:28 His sorrow was for the people of Jerusalem, "But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children." It was the doom of Jerusalem, not His own, that caused the grief.

Our text says, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." What was the source of this ignorance? Let's analyze this question.

The Lord Jesus said, "...they are hid from thine eyes." How did this happen? They had refused to hear the truth; they did not love the truth. They had stoned those whom the Lord had sent unto them, refusing to hear their message.

We read in LUK 4:28-29 when our Saviour came to teach them, "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."

Do you see? They loved not the truth, and they didn't want to hear it. Why? The Pharisee's religion was a legal religion, and the Lord Jesus Christ brought forth the spirit of the law. He taught about the sins of the heart, and their hearts rebelled against the truth. They were filled with anger and took Him to the brow of the hill.

Why did they take Him to the brow of the hill? Read the preceding verse. "And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath." They were wroth with Jesus because He spoke the truth; that is the reason Jesus says to them, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" If they had been willing to listen, to hear, they would have known what would have brought them peace rather than destruction. They had sinned against light, refusing to hear; now in ignorance they are going forward with their plans which will bring destruction upon themselves and their city.

Many people talk about the coming of the antichrist, but the antichrist was alive and well in that day. The antichrist is those who love not the truth. They are the ones who took Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him down head first. They loved not the truth. The antichrist was not only well and alive, but he hated the truth even then.

Now see the antichrist in 2TH 2:8-10, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming [That is, antichrist], Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

Isn't this exactly what we are talking about? They had not received the love of the truth; they rejected it. What did the Lord do? He gave them to believe a lie. Why? It was to the end that they might all be damned who loved not the truth. This is the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ's weeping and anguish, the rebellion of the heart of man. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not," JOH 1:11. They refused Him and the truth, and now because of this, He says, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day [The very day of the Messiah, if you had been willing to hear], the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes," LUK 19:42.

The wailing sorrow of our Saviour over the doom of those who sought His life may be compared with HOS 11:7-9. We must understand that the Lord Jesus Christ was not wailing with self pity because He was going to be crucified. The source of His weeping and sorrow was the doom of those who had set out to murder Him. The destruction of Jerusalem would be the result of their actions.

Now see how HOS 11:7-9 compares with the words of our tender-hearted sorrowing Saviour, "And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? [How will I destroy you?] how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city." Do you see in that passage of Scripture the tender-hearted love of God even to such rebellious people?

Our Saviour's lamentation was because those who had rejected Him knew not the time of their visitation. His desire for those who sought His life is well spoken from EZE 33:11, "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" You see, the Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

If we have our Saviour's heart, if we have the heart of Jesus Christ, we do not have a heart of criticism toward one who is wayward. We will experience grief and sorrow in a way that leads us to plead with them, beseech them, to win them to the truth. As we see one of the brethren walk apart from Christ, our Saviour's example, it must cause us to beseech them with tenderness. This is not a natural response; by nature we are critical, but if we have the Spirit of Christ, we will try to win them by heaping coals of love upon their heads, to melt their hard and stony hearts. We will try to win them and bring them into fellowship with the Spirit of Christ.

Never should we speak of a wayward sinner with criticism, but with deep grief. We should have sorrow over any sinner we see who is walking away from Christ and living apart from Him. Such a walk of life should cause us sorrow, but to think of one dying apart from Christ should grind our hearts to powder. Think of a loved one—parent, child, relative, or friend and see them dying apart from Christ; it should cause us to fall on our faces before God with overwhelming sorrow.

This is what the Lord Jesus Christ saw. The beloved city of Jerusalem with its inhabitants of men, women, and children would be dying outside His blessed atonement.

The willful ignorance of these people, not wanting the truth, was our Saviour's first source of grief. They perished because of their willful ignorance! Could anything be more grievous than to have one you truly love perish because their willful ignorance rejects the truth? Is there anything that could cut your heart deeper? Is there anything worse than not being able to speak to a loved one about the wonders of God?

This was the cause of Jesus' grief; they perished through willful ignorance.

LUK 19:42 says, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" This is why Jesus suffered such grief; He had come to teach them, to preach to them, to tell them of the great atonement He came to make, and their response was to take Him to the brow of the hill to throw Him over the edge. They were wroth; they refused to hear. If only they had listened, Jesus said, "... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" MAT 23:38.

They were unteachable! They remained more ignorant than the beasts because the Lord left them over to believe a lie. In ISA 1:3 we read, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." This is why the Lord Jesus was weeping.

All of the rejoicing on His entry into Jerusalem was to celebrate Jesus becoming an earthly king; they never understood as they sang Hosannas to the King of Israel that His kingdom was within the heart. They were looking for a king to come, overthrow the Romans, and sit on an earthly throne.

Our Saviour's wailing was "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" Our text is synonymous with 2CO 5:20, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."

Yet, today, the Lord Jesus Christ, as He sits at the Father's right hand, sends His ambassadors, representatives, to beseech us, "be ye reconciled to God." He is still sending His representatives to proclaim the truth to His people. The entire world will stand before the judgment seat of God, and every human being will stand judgment. How many will be brought under the same condemnation as Jerusalem? His ambassadors are coming to bring forth the gospel and the message of peace, "Be ye reconciled to God."

"We pray you in Christ's stead," is the same as saying, "We are the ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ." The message He sends by us is, "We pray you in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled to God."

The deliberate ignorance of the chief priests and elders of Israel led to the actual ignorance of the people, causing them to believe a lie!

Let's see how deliberately ignorant they were in MAT 28:11-15. "Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. [While those who came to the empty tomb were going to tell the disciples, a messenger went to the chief priests to tell them how Jesus had risen, the earth shook, and the stone was rolled back.] And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."

Stop and analyze this; look at their determination to deny Jesus as the Lord of life and glory. They had the actual eye witness of His resurrection.

The chief priests and the elders of Israel absolutely, deliberately rebelled against God, and this led to the actual ignorance of the Jews. Think of the blood that will bring upon their heads in their determination to deny the truth. Isn't that the antichrist? They loved not the truth, therefore as we read in 2TH 2:11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Our Saviour wept to see the day of grace that had been neglected; now consider our day, in this our day of the gospel visitation. How many are neglecting the day of grace? They are squandering their time with the things of this world.

We must analyze, search, and understand our own hearts. How much grief does it cause us when we see those who are truly squandering their time and neglecting the day of grace? Does it bring us sorrow and weeping as it did the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do we have within us the Spirit of Christ that we may come before the throne of grace and beg that the Lord would snatch them as a brand from the fire and spare them from the eternal destruction of their souls? "...at least in this thy day" we have yet an opportunity to show them the truth.

REV 3:19-22 says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." When we pray for the Lord to remember one we love as one of His dear children, we are really asking Him to send His rebuke and chastening.

One time I had one of my children call to tell me how the Lord had dealt them a heavy blow. Sometime later I told them they did not know what joy that brought into my soul. They gave me a very peculiar look; I told them it was because the Lord was dealing with them as one of His children.

Oh, the joy it brought into my soul that the Lord had not allowed them to continue in their way of rebellion, He did not allow them to go on to destroy themselves. Do we sorrow when the Lord deals with one of our loved ones? Or do we sorrow over seeing them prosper in the things of sin?

Oh, beloved, what a consolation it is if the Lord has not forsaken us to the hardness and rebellion of our heart, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Today, when the Lord comes to us with a rebuke or a chastening hand the Lord Jesus is standing at the door, knocking; if any person will hear the message, He will enter.

It is exactly the same message as it was when Christ was here. If we will hear...that is where the real calamity lies; people are not willing to hear. They have excuses and reasons why the message is wrong, they can always gainsay the Word of God and explain where the message is wrong. Their doctrine and beliefs are different; the authority of God's Word does not go home to them.

They don't want to hear: "If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Could anything be more grievous than trying to speak to one of your loved ones when they tell you they don't want to hear any more of it? Now you see the source of Christ's sorrow.

If only they knew the things that belong unto their peace while it was yet their day, while they were yet alive, but they refused to hear. They took Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him over. Are we better than our Master? No. What can be more grievous than to have one whom we love so dearly tell us, "Dad, or brother, I don't want to hear it."

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." You know, sometimes when the Lord knocks on the door, He knocks very loudly. Sometimes He brings us to the brink of eternity and we see that He is wroth with what we are doing, but do we hear Him knocking on our door?

If we see our loved ones trifling with the eternal welfare of their souls, we must plead for our heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit's influence upon their hearts and draw them unto Christ. Such a condition in our loved ones causes our hearts to be very grieved, as our Saviour's was.

This causes our hearts to melt before the Lord, pleading that He will grant them repentance out of His love. His promise is: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." In other words, God uses His chastening hand as His instrument of love to bring repentance.

When the Lord places us in the furnace, the heart begins to melt before the Lord. The purpose of bringing a person into the furnace is to melt their stony heart that he might hear the gospel call. This is the situation we pray for when we grieve over a loved one's refusal to hear.

REV 3:18 says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."

Our hearts begin to melt when our eyes are opened to see the loving hand of our heavenly Father in that furnace of rebuke and chastening. When the Lord begins to deal with us as His children, He takes us into the furnace of affliction for the chastening and purifying of our souls.

Then we come to that place we read of in HEB 12:11-15, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."

The peaceable fruits of righteousness means that the rebellion is broken and the heart is brought into submission and subjection to the will of God; the heart has been renewed. It is similar to the rebellion of a small child; when the parent disciplines that child and it is effective, the rebellion is broken. Afterwards the child comes to put his arms around the parent's neck and say, "Daddy, I want love."

That is total submission, the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

We are to help those who are feeble and weak; many of us can relate to this with our own loved ones who will not hear. We must come and lift up each other's hands, encourage each other. We must come together and pray together, caring and helping each other. We are called upon to come together in a spirit of harmony and unity in the mind of Christ to lift up those who have left their first love.

That was the sorrow of the Lord Jesus Christ; He was sorrowing over those who had left their first love, i.e., the promised Messiah; the things of this life and world had become their first love. The Apostle Paul warns against this in HEB 12:15, "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."

We must have harmony, peace with all men; when we have a heart filled with bitterness, we are failing of the grace of God. We may not claim the grace of God if our hearts are filled with bitterness.

We must be careful to avoid of the spirit of bitterness; we must not allow it to take root and dwell in our hearts. Our hearts are to be filled instead with a spirit of love, peace, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

Our sorrow is to see the ignorance of our fellow man, but this ignorance should not cause bitterness within us. This ignorance should lead to sorrow over their willful and deliberate choice of ignorance. We must look unto the Lord, prayerfully asking that He brings them as His children into His love.

Many times He does just that through the furnace of affliction. We must see that it is their restoration into the things of the Lord which is of prime importance. We must search out any loved ones coming short of the grace of God to lift them up. "Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed."

Amen.