Jesus was a man of sympathy

JESUS WAS A MAN OF SYMPATHY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
“Forin that He Himself has suffered, being tempted,
He is able to succorthem that are tempted.” Hebrews
2:18.
Christ's Sympathy with Temptation by Octavius Winslow
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the
devil. Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted
there by the Devil. Matthew 4:1
This must be regarded as one of the most marvelous pages in the Savior's
history, and, to a large portion of the Church of God, not less precious end
soothing. That the Son of God should be exposedto so personal, so searching,
so trying, and so protracted an onslaughtof the devil as this- that He who was
sinless and could not sin, who was almighty and could not fall, who with one
word could have commanded back the foe to the regions from where He came,
or with a breath could have annihilated his being, should yet for forty days
and forty nights have subjected Himself to this fiery, burning furnace- which,
had He not been God would have utterly consummed Him- is the marvel of
earth, and will be the wonder, the study, and the song of heaven through
eternity. But it was a part of the suffering of our Lord by which He was to
learn, even though He were a Son. That wilderness was to Christ both a school

and a battle-field. He had not been perfectedbut for this suffering , He had
not learnedobedience but for this trial , He had not been complete, as the
Head of His Church, but for this furnace . Had our Lord been exempt from
temptation, had He knownnothing of Satanic agencyand power, what an
essentialdefectwould there have been in His mediatorial relation to the
Church! How could He have met the case ofa tempted member of His body, a
worried sheepof His flock, a Satan-terrified lamb of His fold? Impossible!
Where, then, could these have turned for support, aid, and deliverance in
temptation? From whom, when the fiery darts fell thick and fast around and
upon them, could they have obtained the skill to quench, the grace to support,
the sympathy to soothe them in the conflict, and bring them through more
than conquerors? Alas!not another being in the universe could have met the
case!And it was necessaryfor the Church, His body, that Christ, its Head,
should be in all points tempted like as we are, and yet be without sin.
Reserving, for the present, the peculiar circumstances attending Christ's
temptation, let us view the temptation itself, and then apply it as illustrating
His sympathy with His tempted people.
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THE TEMPTATION ITSELF.
In the first place, let us remark that Christ was tempted by the devil. He was
confronted with the leader, the chief of the hierarchy of hell. It was proper
that it should be so. To have met and defeateda foe of inferior rank, a
subordinate agentof the Evil One, one of less authority or of less power,
would have broken the Scriptures and compromised the Church. But "the
Scripture cannot be broken," and the interests of the Church can never be
imperilled. The sentence pronouncedupon the serpent in Paradise involved a
prediction which must be fulfilled- "I will put enmity betweenyou and the
woman, and betweenyour seedand her seed;it shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise his heel." It was necessary, then, that, if our Lord be tempted,
that temptation should come from the prince of the devils- the tall archangel
of hell himself. Our temptations from Satan often flow from indirect sources,

from sin within or incentives to sin without; our Lord's were directly from
Satan. He had come to destroythe works of the Devil, but He must first
confront, bind, and virtually destroy the Devil himself. It was by this
malignant foe God had been accusedto man, and it is by this same malignant
foe man is accusedto God; and it was proper that, by the God-man, He should
be met and overthrown- himself accusedand condemned. But how replete
with instruction, and how full of consolationto the Church is this truth! Not
the myrmidons, not the subordinate ministers and agents ofthe Devil have
been defeatedby Christ, but the Devil himself. The head has been bruised, the
prince has been despoiled, the chief defeated, by Christ's heel. Thus, from
personalexperience, our Lord learned who and what Satanis- his subtlety, his
malignity, and his power- and is prepared to support and sympathize, as no
other being can, with those who are tempted. It was proper, then, that the
Captain of our salvationshould meet in conflict hell's chief; that the Head of
the Church should meet face to face the head of hell , and so "be led into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil."
And what were His temptations? They would seemto have been from every
quarter and of every kind. The quiver of the artful foe lackedno darts. The
moment one was wingedand quenched, another, yet more potent, was upon
the string! The devil is never at a loss for means and appliances. His resources
are vast, his ingenuity versatile, his operations as rapid and as telling as the
electric current. The wiles and devices of the devil are worthy a being of so
vast, yet so depraved, an intellect. What, then, was his first assaultupon our
Lord?
It was the temptation to distrust the providence of God. After His long,
exhausting fast our Lord hungered. He needed bread. He was man, and He
felt as man. Oh, touching evidence of His real humanity! precious proof of His
perfect oneness withus! Of this sinless infirmity of His nature Satan took
advantage. Thus we read, "And when the tempter came to Him, He said, If
you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread." The
temptation

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was timely, plausible, and strong . It had been as easyfor Christ to have
establishedthe fact- not denied by His adversary-of His Divine Sonship by
turning the stones into bread, as subsequently He did by turning the water
into wine. But He would not! He had come to bring to our spiritually famished
race Himself the Bread of life; to teachHis disciples the lessonofa believing
reliance upon the care and provision of their heavenly Father- His Fatherand
their Father. To have yielded to this temptation, to have complied with this
suggestionofthe wily foe, would have been a practicalcompromise of the one,
and a direct denial of the other. No! Christ would not break His fastupon
such terms. He would endure the gnawings of hunger still rather than place
the food that perishes above the food that endures unto eternal life, or throw
the shadow of a shade of distrust upon a Father's care. How Godlike and
sublime His reply, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." And is there not a page in
our experience corresponding to this? How often by the same Adversary we
are assailedwith the same temptation! It is one of the ingenious plans of our
subtle foe to seize upon the present circumstances of believers, turning them
to his own advantage, and to their discomfort, by constructing them into a
weaponof point and power with which to assailthem. Are we in affliction and
sorrow? - He tempts us to question God's goodness andlove. Are we prostrate
on a sick and suffering couch? - He tempts us to doubt the wisdom and
kindness of our Father. Is the mind in spiritual darkness , the soul painfully
exercised, a cloud-veil thrown over the evidences ofour union with Christ and
our adoption into God's family?- He tempts us to ignore our past Christian
experience as a delusion, and to yield ourselves to a present and dark despair.
Are the providences of our God trying, painful, and mysterious?-He tempts
us to carnalreasoning, and hard thoughts of the characterand government of
God, sometimes bringing us to the very verge of atheism and infidelity-
impeaching His character, if not doubting His very being. Are our temporal
resources straitened, ourneeds pressing, our position trying and critical?-He
tempts us to unbelief, distrust, and despondency; to employ unwise, if not
unlawful, means of extrication, and to purchase immediate and temporary
relief by a compromise of integrity, reputation, and happiness. My reader,

Satanknows your circumstances, is acquaintedwith the network of your
trying and difficult position, and is prepared to forge from it a weaponof
assaultupon your principles, your well-being, and your peace. The Devil is
marvelously strategic:his suggestionswill have all the appearance ofreason,
fitness, and propriety; they will seemplausible, facile, and honest;
nevertheless, they are satanic, are from beneath, and must not receive from
you the considerationof a moment. "Trustin the Lord with all your heart; do
not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will
direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6. The Lord cangive you bread- and no good
thing will He withhold from you- without the intervention of a miracle. The
sustenance is all provided; no need, then, that He command the stones that
they be made bread!
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The secondtemptation of our Lord was self-destruction. This was its form-
"Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple,
and said, "If you are the Sonof God, throw yourself down! For the Scriptures
say, 'He orders his angels to protectyou. And they will hold you with their
hands to keepyou from striking your foot on a stone.'" Matthew 4:5-6. And
still there is no denial of His Divine Sonship on the part of the devil. Alas that
there should be on the part of man! He places the fact in a hypothetical point
of light only- "IF you be the Sonof God,"-for on a subsequent occasionthe
unclean demon could exclaim, "I know you who You are, the Holy One of
God." And yet, there was this fearful temptation of this Holy One. And what
was its nature? Suicide! " castyourself down - destroy Yourself! Presume
upon the providence and power of God to preserve You. Commit the act, and
leave Him to shield You from its consequences." Such, in substance, was the
reasoning of this arch-fiend of darkness. With what holy horror must the Son
of God have recoiledfrom the temptation to this rash, sinful, appalling crime!
And yet with what dignity and powerHe repels and silences it! "Jesus said
unto him, It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God." (Jesus
responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not testthe Lord your God.' ")
Matthew 4:7. There are few temptations by which our race is assailedmore

common, and none more dire, than this. And, as Satanloves a prominent and
shining mark, the victim of his malignity is often placed upon a pinnacle of the
temple, that the crime may be the darker, and his triumph the more
conspicuous and complete. Therefore it is that God's saints, Christ's disciples,
are not the exception, but generally the rule, of this appalling onslaught of the
foe. How many of the saints of the most High are, like their Lord and Master,
thus assailedby the devil! My dear reader, it may be that this fiery dart has
been hurled at you. Taking advantage of your position, your circumstances,
your domestic anxieties, your pressing liabilities, the detractions of enemies, a
nervous temperament, mental dejection, a frame tortured by suffering or
enfeebledby disease,this may be the form of the temptation by which Satan
approaches you. As "there has no temptation takenyou but such as is
common to man," and as both Christ and many of His disciples have been
alike assailedas you may now be, it may not be consideredout of place or
unacceptable if we endeavorto meet and mitigate your present trial with such
words and counsels as the Holy Spirit may suggestand apply.
The temptation that assails you is- self-destruction. "Castyourselfdown."
With whom but with a spirit so inventive of crime, so depraved and
malignant, could so unnatural a suggestion, so fearful a sin, originate? Every
point of light in which we view it, every reasonwith which we assailit, every
plea by which we dissuade from it- its touching relation to the present, and its
more solemn relation to the future- conspire to render the actabhorrent and
repelling. Reserving, for the present, its more religious aspects, regardthe sin
of suicide in the light of nature. There is not a strongeror more innate
principle of the human mind than self-preservation. The love of life and the
fear of death are feelings
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naturally and incontestably implanted in all beings. The irrational creation
possessaninstinctive principle of the kind engraftedin their nature by God.
But it has been left for man to war againsta principle of his nature which all
other beings preserve inviolate; and, though endowed with reason,

intelligence, conscience,and responsibility, yet, estrangedfrom God, and the
subject of a derangedmind, he is often swepton by the force of an irresistible
current which lands him at the tribunal of eternity, the destroyer of a
principle the most precious and solemnin the universe! It is a remarkable fact
that in the primitive state of societythe idea of self-destruction is scarcely
known; that it is only in nations of extreme civilization and high intelligence
that this crime the most greatly prevails. A distinguished French physician
remarks that, when a captive in Russia, He once spoke to an intelligent
peasantconcerning this unnatural deed, and found him totally and blissfully
ignorant of its existence. In the rise of the Roman republic it was scarcely
known, nor did it become frequent until after the battle of Pharsalia. Thus it
would seem that, as societyadvancedin civilization and refinement, not only
modes of self-destructionbecame more refined, but the act itself more
familiar. We need scarcelycite the cases ofRegulus, Codrus, and Socratesas
illustrating what have been termed virtuous and patriotic examples, but
which, in no point of light, justify a crime as opposedto the instincts of man as
it is condemned by the law of God. As we are not attempting a treatise on this
melancholy subject, we forbear pressing our inquiry into the various motives
or causes whichmay predispose the mind in the commissionof so rash an act.
Indeed, it would seemimpossible to give anything like a proper analysis or
classificationof them. A few examples will show this- Adrian, Licinius, and
Coecinus destroyedthemselves from excessofpain ; Imilicar, Nasso, and
Hannibal from excess offear ; Pontius Pilate from chagrin at the spreadof
Christianity; Maximian from despair at having oppressedits disciples;Judas
from guilt and remorse at having betrayed its Author. Others have been
tempted thus to anticipate their future from the pressure of poverty , from the
dread of exposure , from wounded pride , from crushed affections ; from
disappointed hopes , from hypochondriacism assuming a religious form, from
sheerselfishness , and from a morbid disgust and weariness oflife . These are
some of the predisposing causes to which this wastefulness oflife may be
traced. But it is with the temptation itself we have now to do.
We premise, however, that in most cases ofthis kind the melancholy subjectof
the temptation must be regardedin the light of an irresponsible agent, whose
diseasedand disordered mind has utterly destroyed the self-controlling power

of the soul, and consequently annihilating the only basis upon which human
responsibility rests-that is, a sound and healthful mind . The majority of
suicidal casesmust be thus resolved- the alienation of an unbalanced intellect
obscuring the light of reason, and destroying the responsibility of the agent.
Let nothing, therefore, which may be tracedupon this page deepen the shade
of sadness which still lingers upon the memory of the past; but let the
profoundly
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mysterious actresolve itself in the righteous permission of the Divine will,
quenching in its melancholy subject every vestige of human accountability.
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" "Evenso, Father, for so it
seems goodin your sight," must be the expressionof our submission to so
dark a mystery of providence. With regard to the temptation, if for a moment
it be suggestedto your mind, there is every argument drawn from the light of
nature with which resistance maybe strengthened, and the crime repelled. Let
us briefly group them together. Your life is not your own. "Behold, all souls
are mine, says the Lord." The possessionof a powerover your own life
establishes no claim to ownership, any more than the same powerover the
lives of others invests you with a right to destroy them. God, therefore, "in
whom we live and move and have our being," as your sole Proprietor, alone
has authority to dispose of you- demanding or retaining your life, as it pleases
Him. "None ofus canhold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the
powerto prevent the day of our death. There is no escaping that obligation,
that dark battle." Eccles. 8:8. "None can keepalive his own soul."
What an impeachment, too, is this act of the wisdom, goodness, and
righteousness ofGod. Deliberately and dispassionatelyto fling into His face a
soul He had createdin His own image;endowedwith an intelligence second
only to His own; and for whose culture, happiness, and preservationHe had
provided, in His infinite goodness, so amply; is to insult His majesty, to deny
His faithfulness, and virtually to own a disbelief in His very being. It is an act,
too, of extreme selfishness;selfishness utterly indifferent to the claims and

feelings of those dependent upon our existence for their own, whose interests
we compromise, and upon all the future of whose earthly happiness we cast
the dark shadow of grief. What sadfruit, too, of pride, shame, and cowardice
is this act, calmly, premeditatively done! Shrinking from meeting the eye of
man, yet not afraid of rushing into the presence ofGod! Seeking to escape
from present embarrassments, afraidto face existing responsibilities, yet not
shrinking from the responsibility of a sane suicide, braving the terror of God's
tribunal before which the soulthrusts itself uncalled! Oh, it is a fearful
temptation of the archfoe of man, from listening to which for a moment every
natural, reasonable, and moral argument and considerationpowerfully and
solemnly dissuades. Listen to the voice of God, echoedby reasonand
conscience-" do yourself no harm ."
The language ofa goodman is, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait
until my change comes."Letrevelation and reasonunite in winning back your
thoughts to solemn reflectionand self-restraint, that thus you may be doubly
armed againstthis fearful temptation of Satan.
"Our time is fixed, and all our days are numbered; How long, how short, we
know not; this we know Duty requires we calmly wait the summons,
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Nor dare to stir until Heavenshall give permission. Like sentinels that must
keeptheir destined stand, And wait the appointed hour until they're relieved.
Those only are the brave who keeptheir ground, And keepit to the last. To
run awayIs but a coward's trick;to run awayFrom this world's ills, that at
the very worst Will soonblow over, thinking to mend ourselves Byboldly
venturing on a world unknown, And plunging headlong in the dark! it is mad;
No frenzy half so desperate as this."
We have remarkedthat this is a temptation of Satanfrom which God's people
are not totally exempt. A considerationof this will place before us the
religious aspectof the subject. The Head of the Church thus tempted, the
Church and the individual members of the Church must not expectto be

absolved. "Castyourselfdown," was the temptation presentedto Christ by
Satan. "Destroyyourself," is the like dark thought often suggestedby the Evil
One to the minds of Christ's disciples. Seizing upon your peculiar and
pressing circumstances, orthe physical and mental condition through which
you are for the time passing-your tried spirit, or embarrassedposition, or
bodily suffering, or spiritual gloomand despondencyof mind, Satanavails
himself of it to present to your mind gloomythoughts and distrustful feelings
of God and His dealings, and to insinuate an easyand effectualmode of
escaping from present difficulties and mental distress-the dark, the awful, the
appalling one of anticipating the future by your own hand! The idea, the
suggestion, the mode of its executioncome from him the adversary, the
accuser, the foe of God's saints. But not for the universe must an instigation so
awful in its nature, so dishonoring to your Christian profession, so wounding
to Christ, so denying of God; and investing life's close with a pall of woe so
dark, find a moment's reflective response in your heart or mind. All the
powers of your soul, every effort of self-resistance, everytender, holy
considerationit is possible for you to command, must be summoned to the
battle and aid you in the victory. Farbeyond this, must you betake yourself to
Christ
the tempted One, tempted as you are now and by the same tempter, who is
prepared to strengthen, aid, and fortify you against, and deliver you out of,
this terrible onslaughtof His foe and yours. No imagination can portray the
tenderness, the compassion, the sympathy of Christ with you in this dark hour
of your terrible temptation. All the boundless resources ofHis grace, power,
love, and sympathy are enlisted on your side, and are at your command. How
appropriate and precious are the Divine declarations ofthis truth written for
you- "We have not an high Priestwhich cannotbe touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." "Forin that He himself has
suffered, being
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tempted , He is able to support their that are tempted ." Oh, yield yourself in
this extremity to prayer . There is no weaponof resistance like this. With it,
you can"resistthe devil, and He will flee from you." Meetthe arch-foe with
the name of Jesus, and He will quail before you. Uplift in faith the cross of
Christ, acid you will put to flight all the hosts of hell.
Christ has wounded, despoiled, and vanquished Satanon the cross and in the
grave;and a yet more signaland a final triumph over him awaits the Son of
God- and you have but to shelteryour tried, tempted, trembling soul beneath
His overshadowing wing until this dark hour of temptation is past. Oh, what a
soothing reflectionis this- "The Son of God, my Savior, was tempted to
selfdestruction, even as I am! Then, will He desertme in this hour of my
weakness?willHe leave me to combat the tempter alone? Will He not assist
me by His grace, aidme with His strength, comfort me with His love, soothe
me with His sympathy, and deliver me by His greatpower? Mostassuredly
He will! He has trodden this very path Himself. He has been assailedby this
very foe, and with this very temptation; and will He not support me as no
other being does, as no other being can? O sweetassaultthat opens to me the
gentle heart of Jesus, into which I run, and am shielded by its power, soothed
by its sympathy, and am lost in its love. Then, I will look to Jesus, cling to
Jesus, trust in Jesus, who knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation,
and who will deliver- me!"
Closelyakin to this form of temptation of Satan, is a modern manifestation
popularly termed "Spiritualism," or the allegedpowerto unravel the
mysteries of the spirit-world. To so greatan extent has this delusion spread,
and so disastrous has been its influence upon the mental and moral well-being
of numbers of its victims, that, in touching upon the subject of satanic agency,
we should be scarcelyjustified in passing it overin total silence. We do not
assertthat the senselessmummeries of spirit-rapping; table-turning,
clairvoyance, and kindred delusions-professedmedia of communication with
the invisible world- are the direct results of satanic power-the manifestations
are far too clumsy and transparent to conduct us to such a conclusion-still, we
avow our unhesitating belief that they are the conceptions of human depravity
and the inventions of human fraud, working upon the imagination of the weak
and the credulous, suggested, prompted, and abettedby the Evil One, who

employs the sin that is in man to increase the amount of sin and misery that is
in the world. Indirectly, then, we track these ungodly arts, these awful
delusions, to the "prince of the power of the air, who "works in the children of
disobedience." Fromall such proceedings, then, it becomes the solemn duty of
every believer in Jesus to turn with detestationand horror, as from the Evil
One himself, and to have no fellowshipwith these works of darkness, but
rather to reprove them. They are diabolical and satanic so far as they are a
part of the machinery by which the Devil carries forward his government in
this ungodly world, where for a seasonhis seatis. That even some of the elect
of God have been deceivedby these
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delusions, it is mournful and humiliating to confess;and not a few caseshave
transpired in which domestic happiness has been blasted, spiritual peace has
been destroyed, Christian hope has been beclouded, and the mind has
succumbed either to moody despair, or to hopeless insanity, in some instances
terminating in self-murder. Oh, be this our constantprayer, "Keep back Your
servant also from presumptuous sins : let them not have dominion over me."
And to the Divine exhortation we do well that we take heed- "Put on therefore
the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand againstthe wiles of the
devil. Forwe wrestle not againstflesh and blood, but againstprincipalities
and againstpowers, againstthe rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickednessin high places. Therefore take unto you the whole armor
of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all,
to stand."
The third temptation of our Lord was IDOLATRY, with the promise of
temporal territory, glory, and power. This was the form in which the Devil
put it- "Nextthe Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and
showedhim the nations of the world and all their glory. "I will give it all to
you," he said, "if you will only kneel down and worship me." Matthew 4:8-9.
We pause not to notice the monstrous arrogance and mendacious insolence,
togetherwith the glaring falsehood, exhibited in the form of this assault. It is

enough to notice the aspiring ambition of this proud Lucifer who now
demanded the homage and worship of the Son of God, and thus aspired to be
God: "If you will fall down and worship me!" This would seemto have been
the climax of horror, the sin of sins, to the holy Son of God. No sin has
Jehovahso emphatically forbidden, or has marked with such signaland
overwhelming indications of His hatred, displeasure, and wrath, as the sin of
idolatry. And yet this was the climax to the series of temptations by which our
Lord was assailedofthe devil! Dwellupon the thought for a moment- devil-
worship, offered, justified, and encouragedby the example of the Son of God!
Can the imagination depict a temptation so fearful, or a crime so appalling?
Again we remark, with what horror must the Saviorhave met, with what
indignation must He have repelled, and how instantaneouslymust He have
quenched this fiery dart of the foe! Listen to His words: "Awayfrom me,
Satan! Forit is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
Matthew 4:10.
And are the saints of God entirely exempt from temptation akin to this? We
believe not. Assailing us through our senses-the eye fond of beauty, the heart
ambitious of power, the mind dazzled with glory, the soul lusting for
possession-easyand accessible avenues are open to this arch-foe of Christ and
of the Church. To what idolising of ourselves, and of the creature, and of
worldly possessions, are the bestof saints exposed!We may– so deceitful and
wickedare our hearts- be beguiled, before we are conscious ofour sin, into a
worshiping of our intellectual powers, ofour acquired endowments, of our
popularity, of our usefulness, of our very graces!Wherein else could have
been
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the appropriateness and the force of the apostolic exhortation- "Therefore,
my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry ." And again, "Little children, keep
yourselves from idols ." And what is the homage paid by the ungodly to
objects that are sinful, yes, to sin itself, but a worship unconsciously, but
really, offered to Satan? It is againstthis the saints of God have need to be

armed and fortified- to be vigilant and prayerful. He assails us through the
affections-through the eye- the ear-the intellect, yes, through every bodily
sense and mental faculty. The creature may become an idol of the heart, and
learning an idol of the intellect; we may be so enamored with the beauty of the
arts, of the melody of music, of the fascinationof science, as to be swept on by
the resistlessforce ofthe passions to a point where we may worship and serve
the creature more than the Creator, who is blessedforever! Such is the
natural tendency to idolatry of the human heart, such the power and influence
of Satan, we have need to be acquainted, in some measure, with the
deceitfulness and wickednessofthe one, and not to be ignorant of the wiles
and the devices of the other.
From this subject of our Lord's temptations, we may glean some LESSONS
OF HOLY INSTRUCTION, andderive some STREAMS OF REAL
COMFORT.
We learn that our greatadversary and accuseris a defeatedfoe. From this
onslaught upon Christ He retired foiled, vanquished, and abashed. The Seed
of the woman had bruised the serpent's head. It is true, "Satanleft Him for a
season,"to renew the battle on another and a more conspicuous field, and at a
future and a more eventful time; but only to be more signally discomfited,
more fatally wounded, and more completelyoverthrown. Tempted believer in
Jesus!learn thus the paralyzed powerof your tempter, that you do not be
disheartenedand dismayed. Remember that the Son of God has foiled him,
that the Captain of your salvationhas piercedhim, signally and fatally; and
that every fiery dart winged at your soul is plucked from a quiver all whose
weapons, pointed at the believer, are tipped with the conquering blood of
Christ, and are hurled by the strickenarm of an archerhumbled and cowed
by the consciousnessofa signaland irrecoverable defeat!
Learn to meet Satan's suggestions, to answerhis arguments, and to repel his
temptations by the "swordof the Spirit, which, is the Word of God." He too
can quote and apply Scripture, only to misquote and misapply it. You may,
therefore, safelyinfer that if He seeksto give Scripture point and force to a
vile insinuation- quotes a promise or cites an example from the Word of God
in support of some infernal suggestion, some dark design, some horrid

temptation- He has by fraud and subtlety stolenfrom the arsenalof truth
weapons with which, by perversionand wickedingenuity, to accomplishhis
dark, nefarious design. Lend not your ear for a moment to a temptation that
comes cladin Scripture authority. Suspectthe cloven foot of Satan. The Word
of God is very pure. It is on the side of holiness, of uprightness, of goodness,of
love. It inculcates the fear of God,
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confidence in God, and love to God. It teaches the protection, the sufficiency,
and the sympathy of Jesus. It unfolds many exceeding greatand precious
promises;announces many gracious and free invitations; and it is designedto
support the tempted, to comfort the mourner, to soothe the sorrowful, to hold
out the promise of pardon to the guilty, salvationto the lost, and to reveal the
hope of glory to all those who humbly and simply believe in Christ. The
moment, then, beloved, that a text of God's Word is suggestedto your
thoughts in favor of sin, of distrust of God, of disbelief of Christ, of self-injury,
repel it with the holy indignation of a believer in Christ from the threshold of
your mind, as from the Evil One, prompting you to evil, and seeking to slay
you with the very weapons Godgraciouslyprovided for your defense!O yes!
God's Word will fortify, strengthen, and support you in temptation. It is the
Book ofthe tempted. Like its Author, it is divine, invincible, and holy. It is the
history of saints tempted like you, but from whose temptation God rescued
them. "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation." The most
gracious souls, the most eminent saints, have been tempted saints. Abraham
was tempted, David was tempted, Job was tempted, Peter was tempted, Paul
was tempted, Luther was tempted- and, above all, and greaterthan all, Christ
was tempted; and all from the selfsame foe-"Satan, the accuserof the
brethren." All passedthrough this heated crucible, all were taught in this
painful school, allbore to heaven the scars ofthe wounds in this battle with
the devil- but out of all God delivered them. Do not think, then, that some
strange thing has happened unto you- that you tread a peculiar, solitarypath,
a path untrodden by the saints of God. O no! You are one of the "greatcloud
of witnesses"ofwhom it is recorded, "they were tempted," and with them you

shall testify to the power of faith in giving you the victory over all the assaults
of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Fly, tempted one! to the precious
Scriptures. They are your grand arsenal, richly stored with every species of
weaponwith which to foil and vanquish your powerful, sleepless,subtle foe.
"Your word have I hid in my heart, that I should not sin againstyou." Above
all, fly to the Christ of the Scriptures, and nestle your tempted spirit beneath
His sheltering wing.
And do not forgetwhat a girding of the soul in the temptations of Satanis-
prayer. Take your temptation, drag the tempter to the throne of grace, and
you are safe. The shadow of that spotis too divine, too pure and holy, for a
temptation to live a single moment. There the WickedOne will cease to
trouble you, there your weary soul will sweetlyrest. Communion with God,
the opening of your heart to Christ, flying into the very bosom of the
Comforter, will put to flight all the hosts of hell. Oh, betake yourself, tempted
child of God, to prayer! God invites you, the blood of Jesus gives you access,
and the mercy-seatwill coveryou with its Divine and sacredshadow, beneath
which God will keepyou in perfect peace. "Oh, how greatis your goodness,
which, you have laid up for those who fearyou; which you have wrought for
those who trust in you before the sons of men! You shall hide them in the
secretof your presence from the
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pride of man; you shall keepthem secretlyin a pavilion from the strife of
tongues." Resort, then, to prayer "If he haunts you with fears of your
spiritual estate, fly to the throne of grace, and beg a new copy of your old
evidence, which you have lost. The original is in the pardon-office in heaven,
whereofChrist is Master; if you are a saint, your name is upon record in that
count; make your moan to God, hear what news from heaven, rather than
listen to the tales which are brought by your enemy from hell. Did such reason
less with Satan, and pray over their fears more to God, they might soonerbe
resolved. Can you expect truth from a liar, and comfort from an enemy? Did
He ever prophesy well of believers? Was not Job the devil's hypocrite, whom

God vouched for a nonsuch in holiness, and proved him so at last? If He knew
that you were a saint, would He tell you so? If a hypocrite, he would not have
you know it; turn your back therefore on him, and go to your God: fear not
but sooneror later He will give his hand againto your certificate. But see that
you do not pass rashly a censure on yourself, because a satisfactoryansweris
not presently sent at your desire; the messengermay stay long, and bring
goodnews at last." (Gurnall)
Designedas this volume is to set forth the sympathy of Christ with man, no
illustration of this precious truth is more touching than Christ's sympathy
with the tempted. The inspired allusions to it are few, but, oh, how pointed
and precious!"In that He himself has suffered, being tempted , He is able to
support, those who are tempted ." "We have not a High Priestwhich cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin." How schooledand trained to this work of
sympathy with Satantempted souls, then, is our greatHigh Priest!What! is
He not "touched?" will He not "support?" And when Satanstands at your
right hand to accuse, do you think that He, your Advocate with the Father,
will not put in a plea on your behalf that shall quash the indictment, silence
the accusation, and condemn the accuser? Oh, enfold yourself, tempted
believer, within the robe of your Savior's sympathy! Hide within its rich, its
ample folds, until the temptation be past. Christ will not fail you. He may
permit, for wise and holy ends, the messengerofSatan to buffet you, but He
will restrain the enemy, permitting him to go so far and no farther, and will
make goodHis promise, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is
made perfect in weakness."This very temptation of your soulmay make you
better acquainted with Christ than ever. For this end, doubtless, He permits
it. You have learnedwhat Christ is in times of guilt, in times of sorrow, in
times of need, in times of perplexity; now you are to learn what He is in times
of temptation. New views of God will be opened to you, new treasures of truth
unlocked, new promises applied, new discoveries and manifestations made to
you of the love, the grace, the tenderness, the sympathy of Christ. You will
have found some new niche in His heart of love and sympathy, unknown,
undiscovered before, into which your weary, panting spirit will insinuate itself
and nestle in assuredsafety and repose until the tempter flee. Every deluge

has its dove, every dove its ark, every ark its Noah, every cloud its bow. And
when
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the enemy shall come into your soul like a flood, the Spirit, the Comforter, will
gently lead you to Jesus, and cloisteryou within the secretplace of His loving,
sheltering bosom. Hidden and resting there, the swelling waves may lift up
their voice, but the Lord Jesus on high "is mightier there the noise of many
waters, yes, than the mighty waves ofthe sea," andyou need not fear. Satanis
more restless, earnest, malignant at the present moment than ever; yes, often
assuming the form of an angelof light, seeing that his time is short. But the
Lord is at hand! In a little while He will come and complete the victory begun
in Paradise, continued in the wilderness, renewedon the cross, carriedon
through the long history of His Church, and consummated in the day of His
personal, glorious, and triumphant appearing. Tempted child of God! take
heart- look up! You shall, through your conquering Head, bruise Satanunder
your feet shortly!
But slight allusion has been made in this chapter to THE AWFUL
CONDITION OF THE UNCONVERTED,still under the dominion and
powerof Satan, led captive by him at his will. We would not close it without a
solemn word addressedespeciallyto such. My dear reader, be your standard
of morality, your religious creed, your education, your rank in societywhatit
may, nothing modifies, softens, or alters, in the slightestdegree, the appalling
fact that an unrenewed, unregenerate soul is a soul yet the subject of Satan-
the captive and slave of his powerand service. What is the unerring testimony
of God's Word? Addressing those who, through grace, were rescuedfrom the
powerof Satan, the apostle thus speaks,"Youhas He quickened, who were
dead in trespassesand sins; wherein in time past you walkedaccording to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now works in the children of disobedience." Whatan appalling
description of the unrenewed! Reader, it is a faithful portrait of you. if you are
yet not born againof the Spirit. What need have we of further testimony?

Surely this one passage, were there no other proof, is sufficient to fill with awe
and alarm every unconverted readerof this page. The strong man armed, who
is the Devil, has still the full possessionofyour soul; and will remain in
undisturbed, undisputed, and willing occupation, until a stronger than He
enters, spoils him of his goods, and casts him out. "Satan, the god of this evil
world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe, so they are unable to
see the glorious light of the GoodNews that is shining upon them. They don't
understand the messagewe preachabout the glory of Christ, who is the exact
likeness ofGod." 2 Cor. 4:4. It is his aim and policy to keepyour soul in
carnalsecurity, in false peace, in the stillness and insensibility of spiritual
death. Mistake not your realcondition! Mistake not coldritualism for vital
religion; dead formalism for spiritual life; carnal insensibility for Divine
peace;rash confidence for humble faith; human excitementfor holy love;
groundless expectationfor assuredhope! Satan is a greatcounterfeiter! He
not only canquote Scripture, but He canimitate grace. Everyspecies offalse
religion, and every form of spurious Christianity, are his inventions. He will
strive to retain possessionof your soul, nor relinquish his hold without a long
and a desperate struggle. Be
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assuredof this, that everything that is evil and false is of Satan. Every
atheisticalidea of God, every infidel thought of the Bible, every suggestionof
sin, every prompting to evil, every new attractionof the world, every
impediment in the way of your salvation, every argument and persuasive
pleading for a postponementto a more convenient season, it may be to a sick
and dying bed, of the great, the needful work of repentance and of faith, the
solemn, the momentous preparation of the soul for eternity, all, all is of Satan.
In all this you are "led captive by him at his will." Oh, solemn, appalling
thought- "My soul the palace ofSatan! my intellect, my will, my heart all
under his influence and at his command! My present and my future life not
God's, not Christ's, not heaven's, but Satan's!" Oh, throw yourself at the feet
of the Savior, whose missionit is to destroy the works of the devil, and the
devil himself, and beseechHim to rend the chain, to ejectthe usurper, and to

claim and possessthe throne and the kingdom of your soul as His own
forever! Hell shall not then be your everlasting abode, nor Satan your eternal
tormentor. But He who came into this world "to proclaim liberty to the
captive, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound," will claim you
as His lawful prize, and when you die, heaven will be your home and God
your Father. You shall live and reign with Christ forever and ever. "Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about,
seeking whomHe may devour; whom resiststeadfastin the faith." And then
comes the final defeatand eternal doom of him who so long and so fearfully
reigned and ruled, the God and despotof mankind– "Then the Devil, who
betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining
the beastand the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever." Rev. 20:10
CHRIST’S SYMPATHY WITH HIS PEOPLE NO. 2885
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1904. DELIVERED
BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE,
NEWINGTON, ON A LORD’S-DAYEVENING, DURING THE WINTER
OF 1861-62.
“Forin that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to succorthem
that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18.
THAT which is the simplest lessonthe gospelhas to teach, is often the most
difficult lessonfor the Christian to learn. That simple lessonis that we must
not look to ourselves for anything good, but that we must look to the Lord
alone for all our righteousness.The lessonis short, as well as simple; it is easy
to repeat; but, as often as our faith is severelytried, we find how apt we are to

forgetthat which is the very Alpha of the gospel, its rudiments—that man, in
himself, is wholly lost, and that all his hope of help and salvationmust rest on
Christ—that, apart from God, there is nothing upon which faith canfasten
itself— and that without the atoning sacrifice andjustifying righteousness of
Christ, the quickening and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, and the
everlasting love of the Father, there is neither joy, nor peace, norcomfort, nor
hope to be found anywhere. This seems to be a very easylesson;yet even aged
believers, when their hair is getting grey and they are about to enter the land
of perfect peace and rest, still find the temptation to unbelief too much for
them, and they begin to look for something goodin the creature, and to seek
for happiness in themselves, instead of seeking allgoodin God. I want to try
to teachyou this lessonagain, and to also learn it myself, for I need to learn it
as much as you do—the lessonoflooking awayfrom our temptations, and
from our own weaknessand inability to repel those temptations, to Him who,
having Himself suffered in being tempted, “is able to succorthem that are
tempted.” Let us fix our eye upon our greatHigh Priest, and leave Satanand
all his insinuations, his blasphemies and his temptations, out of the question.
Or, rather, let us bring them to Christ, and see them all finished in Him. I am
going to address three separate characters thatare representedhere—first,
the confirmed believer; secondly, the young beginner; and, thirdly, the
backslider;and then, summoning the attention of the whole company here
assembled, I shall try to commend the comfort and instruction of the text to
you all. I. First, let me speak TO ADVANCED CHRISTIANS. You all have
your trials, and those trials are of an advanced character. The troubles, with
which the plants of God’s right-hand planting are assailed, whenthey are
saplings, are quite inconsiderable compared with those which come upon
them when they are like cedars firmly rooted. As surely as our strength
increases,so will our sufferings, our trials, our labors, or our temptations.
God’s power is never given to a man to be stored up unused. The heavenly
food, that is sentto strengthenus, like the manna given to the Israelites in the
wilderness, is intended for immediate use. If the Lord sends you much, you
shall have nothing beyond what you canuse for Him; though, blessedbe His
holy name, if you have but little, you shall have no lack. When the Lord puts
upon our feet the shoes of iron and brass, which He has promised us in His
ancient covenant, He intends that we should wearthem, and walk in them—

not that we should put them into our museum, and gaze upon them as
curiosities. If He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a strong foe to
fight with. If He gives us a greatmeal—like that which He gave to Elijah—it is
in order that, in the strength of that meal, we may go for forty days, or even
longer. Perhaps, my brother or sister, you are, just now, in greattrouble. You
have grown in grace and your troubles have also grown. You feelthat you
need someone to whom you cantell your trouble—your trouble very likely
arises from the absence ofyour Lord. Let me remind you that in this respect,
you are very like the Israelites in the wilderness, whenMoses hadbeen absent
from them for forty days. They said, “What shall we do? Our leaderis gone;
he, who was king in Jeshurun, has departed from us, and we
2 Christ’s Sympathy with His People Sermon #2885
2 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 50
are left like sheepwithout a shepherd.” So they went—I dare not say that they
went for counsel, but they went—to the high priest, and you remember what
they said, and what he did. Alas! He gave them no goodcounsel, for he was as
unwise as they were, and as untried; he had always had Moses by his side ever
since the day that the Lord had said, “Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? .
. . He shall be to you insteadof a mouth, and you shall be to him insteadof
God.” Aaron had never been left without his great leader;so, in his absence,
he miserably failed, and led the people in the making and worshipping of the
golden calf. How different it will be with you, who mourn the loss of the light
of your Lord’s countenance, if you go to our GreatHigh Priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ! He knows the meaning of your present trial, for He had once to
cry, “My God, my God, why have You forsakenMe?” Youtell Him that your
“soulis exceedinglysorrowful, even unto death,” and He tells you that it was
so with Him also, on that night in which He was betrayed, when, “being in an
agony, He prayed more earnestly: and His sweatwas as it were greatdrops of
blood falling down to the ground.” No untried priest is He; He can
sympathize, and He can succor. Takeanothercase,that of Hannah, the
“womanof a sorrowful spirit.” She was in a peculiarly trying position. Her
husband’s other wife had children, but she had none; though she was greatly
beloved of her husband, her adversary vexed her sorelyto make her fret. Day

by day, this was thrown in her teeth, that because ofsome sin, God had not
granted her the desire of her heart. A trial in one’s own house is one of the
saddestplaces where it cancome; the saddest, perhaps, with the exceptionof a
thorn in the flesh which comes still closerhome. So poor Hannah, having that
trial at home, thought she would go up to the sanctuaryin Shiloh. There, she
“prayed unto the Lord, and wept sorely, and she voweda vow.” But “she
spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard.” So Eli,
the high priest, thought that she was drunk; and, instead of comforting and
consoling her, he spoke harshly to her, depressedand broken as her spirit
was. You, my brethren, and you, my sisters, too, may have some trouble which
you dare not tell to another, though it is sorelyvexing you, and threatens even
to break your heart. But when you go to the greatHigh Priest, He will
understand all about you, He will not need you to explain your sorrow to Him,
for He knows exactlywhat it is, and He will apply the healing balm to your
sorrowfulspirit, and send you on your way full of peace and comfort. I offer,
then, to you, who are advancedbelievers, this very comforting reflection—in
Christ’s sufferings, you are quite certainto find something akin to your own;
and, in Christ’s heart, you are quite sure to find a deep well of divine
sympathy; so you need not hesitate to go to Him, or doubt that His loving
heart will overflow with sympathy towards you, whateveryour trial may be.
But, more than that, while I would console youby reminding you that Christ
has suffered even as you have, I would also comfortyou with the reflection
that this very day, He still suffers with you. Suppose, now, that a man could be
so high in stature that his head could be in heaven while his feet were on
earth, yet, wheneverhis feet suffered, his head would suffer, too. In the
Canticles, the spouse says ofher Heavenly Bridegroom, “His head is as the
finest gold. . . His legs are as pillars of marble, setupon sockets offine gold.”
As John saw Him, “in the isle that is calledPatmos,” “His eyes were as a flame
of fire; and His feetlike unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.” This
suggeststo me a parable; the feet of Christ, which form His Church on earth,
still glow “as if they burned in a furnace.” The glorious Head of the Church,
up in heaven, “is as the most fine gold;” but there is not the leastglow of heat,
in the feeton earth, which is not felt by the Head in heaven. There is not a
pang that rends your heart, which Jesus does notfeel. There is not a sorrow
that cuts deeply into your soul which does not also cut into His; so you can still

sing— “He feels at His heart all our sighs and our groans Forwe are most
near Him, His flesh and His bones;In all our distressesour Head feels the
pain, They all are most necessary, notone is in vain.” Does it not comfortyou
to know that Christ can sympathize with you, and that He must sympathize
with you—can, because He has suffered; must, because He still suffers? I may
also add, for your comfort, that all this—Christ’s suffering as you do, and His
suffering with you—must tend to shield you in your trials. A country minister,
preaching upon the text, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician
there?” made the remark that Christ is a goodPhysician. “Ah!” he said,
“Christ is not like those doctors, who come and saythey are sorry for you,
whereas, in their hearts, they are glad you are ill; for, if you and others were
not ill, there would be no work for them. Or else,” saidthe
Sermon #2885 Christ’s Sympathy with His People 3
Volume 50 Tell someone todayhow much you love Jesus Christ. 3
preacher, “they look down upon you, and pity you, but not half as much as if
they themselves had your complaint, and felt all the pains that you are feeling.
But suppose,” he added, “that the doctorhad all your pains himself—suppose
you had the headache, and that he lookeddown on you, and had your
headache— suppose, whenyou had palpitation of the heart, he had
palpitation of the heart, too—why, he would be very quick to cure you;
certainly, he would not let you lie there a moment longerthan was necessary,
because he himself would be suffering with you.” Now, there is just one
objectionthat may be made to the countryman’s argument—that is, that the
physician might be willing to raise the patient up at once, because he was
himself suffering with him; yet he might say, “Here are two of us in the same
plight, but my skill fails me here. If I could deliver you, you can well imagine
that I would gladly do so, for, in so doing, I should deliver myself as well; but,
alas!It is beyond my power, I cannotlighten your burden, or my own; we can
only sit down together, and mingle our tears, but we cannot assistone
another.” But it is not so with the goodPhysician, for He has both the will
and the power to heal us. One motion of that eternalarm, and every cloud,
that is wrapped about the sky, shall be folded up, like a worn out vesture, and
castaway. Jesus speaks,and the boisterous billows ceasetheir raging, and the

wild winds are hushed to sleep. “Let there be light,” He says;and, over the
thick darkness of our affliction and adversity, comes the bright gleamof joy
and prosperity. He did but lift up His voice, and “kings of armies did flee
apace.” O Jesus, ourLord, when You come forth for the deliverance of Your
people, who can stand before You? As the wax melts before the fire, and as
the fat of rams is consumed upon Your altar, so do our trials and troubles
melt and vanish awaywhen You come forth for the deliverance of Your
people! Remember, believers that you not only have the love of Christ’s heart,
but you also have the strength of Christ’s arm at your disposal. He rules over
all things, in heaven, and earth, and hell, so rest in Him, for He still bears the
scars ofHis wounds to show that He has suffered even as you do. Still does He
prove Himself to be man, seeing that He suffers with you; yet is He also “very
God of very God,” into whose hand all powerin heaven and earth is
committed. He can, He must, He will, deliver His people and bring them out of
all their trials into His eternal kingdom and glory. II. Secondly, I am going to
speak TO ANXIOUS INQUIRERS AND YOUNG BEGINNERS. I hear a
plaintive voice, over yonder, saying to me, “I know, sir, that the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleansesus from all sin; and I know that the
moment I believe in Him, I have nothing to fearconcerning the past, for that
sin is blotted out, once for all; but my fear is that if I commence a Christian
life, it will not lastlong. I am afraid I shall be like Pliable, and turn back at the
Slough of Despond;or if my neighbors jeer at me, I fear that I shall be
ashamedto go forward in spite of their opposition. Even if I getover that, I
feel that I cannot trust my own evil heart, which is so apt to deceive me. If old
temptations should be overcome, new ones will be sure to arise, and I cannot
help fearing as to what will become of me. I have seensome, who made a fair
show in the flesh, turn back, and go straight to perdition; and I tremble lestit
should be so with me also. How can I hope to withstand the imperious lusts
which were too strong for me when first they allured my simple heart? How
much more shall they be too mighty for me now that sin has gatheredthe
force of habit, and practice, like an iron net, has enfolded me in its cruel grip!
When I was a youth, I could not stand againstthis greatenemy of my soul;
how, then, shall I be a match for him now that I have grownold and feeble?
The old Adam will be too strong for the young Melancthon.” Well, dear
friends, I have seensome persons, who have been truly convertedto God, who

have been greatly troubled with this fear. Indeed, in some instances I have
even known of poor men kneeling down, and praying that God would let them
die, there and then, soonerthan that they should live to prove that their
feelings were only a delusion and that their supposedrepentance was merely a
passing excitement. Some of us can fully sympathize with those who pray such
a prayer as that, for we have often felt that the most terrible death would be
preferable to the disgrace of bringing dishonor upon the name of Jesus by
turning back to the City of Destructionafter we had once started for the
CelestialCity. But, my dear friend, if the Lord has begun a goodwork in your
soul, and led you to trust in Jesus as your Savior, my text will just meet that
fear of yours, for the apostle here says that Christ “is able to succorthem that
are tempted.” You will be tempted—I will not delude you with the notion that
you will not—and you cannot, by yourself, stand up againstthat temptation;
but Christ, “in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, is able to succor
them that are tempted.” This truth we set before you as a shield againstall
these dark, mysterious
thoughts—Christ can, and He will, if you trust in Him, protect you from the
sin and the temptation which you rightly dread. “But how is this to be done?”
asks someone. Well, first of all, Christ can do it by the force of His own
example. He can show you—as He has done in His Word; but He can also
show you, by His Spirit opening up that Word, how He was once subjectto
just the same temptation that now assails you. Are you poor, and are you
tempted to use wrong means to get rich? Christ can tell you how, in the
wilderness, “whenHe had fasted forty days, and forty nights, He was
afterwards hungry,” and Satan came to Him, and said, “If You are the Sonof
God, command that these stones be made bread.” Are you a man in a high
position, and are you tempted to do some daring and recklessdeed? Christ
can remind you how, when He was on a pinnacle of the temple, Satansaid to
Him, “If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down.” Or do you seem, just
now, to have greatpowerwithin your reachif you will but stain your hand to
graspit? Christ can tell you how SatanshowedHim all the kingdoms of the

world, and the glory of them, and said to Him, “All these things will I give
You, if You will fall down and worship me.” Then He will remind you how He
passedthrough all these ordeals without sin, for the prince of this world could
find nothing in Him to respond to his temptations. He was tried and tested
againand again, but no trace of alloy could be discoveredeven by the devil
himself. Though He was often shot at by His greatadversary, He was never
wounded by the fiery shafts; so, inspired by His glorious example, you may
say— “Through floods and flames, if Jesus lead I’ll follow where He goes.”
You not only have Christ’s example to keepyou from sin, but you also have
His presence. Do you know what this means? Let me give you an example of
it. There was a certain merchant, who had been, againand again, tempted to
an act of sin. It was the usual custom in his trade, everybody else did it; but he
knew that it was wrong, and his soul revolted againstit. As he sat in his
counting house, he saw, pictured before his mind’s eye, his wife homeless, and
his children crying for bread; and the demon whispered to him, “Do it; do it.”
Then another picture flitted before his eyes—he and his wife and children
were rich, their home was filled with goodthings, and againthe adversary
said, “Do it; do it.” He saw the advantages that were to be gained by doing it,
but he went home and pondered the whole matter. His soul was heavy, and a
stern struggle was proceeding within him. Then he went to his chamber, and
shut himself in alone, and, falling upon his knees, told out all his difficulty and
temptations to his Fatherin heaven. Then, suddenly, not before his eyes, but
to Faith’s inner eye, there appeareda vision of the crucified Christ, who
showedhim His pierced hands, and feet, and side, and then said to him, “He
that takes not his cross, and follows afterMe, is not worthy of Me. You have
not yet resistedunto blood, striving againstsin.” The merchant, fixing his
tearful eyes upon his Savior, remembered Paul’s words, “ConsiderHim that
endured such contradiction of sinners againstHimself, lest you be wearied
and faint in your minds;” He came down from his bedroom, his soul was glad,
for his mind was made up, and he said to himself, “I will not do it; I can be
poor, but I cannot sin.” Others marked the man, and wonderedat the change
in his appearance. He walkederect, no longerlike one boweddown beneath a
heavy burden. Many men marveled at him, and askedwhathad happened to
him, but none could tell. The secretwas that the crucified Christ had
appearedto him, and had given him the support of His divine presence. That

was sufficient to succorhim in the time of temptation, for Christ, having
Himself suffered being tempted, was able to succorHis faithful followerwhen
he also was tempted. I know that I am addressing someone, who says—Iwill
use, as far as possible, his ownwords—“Look here, sir; I have always beenin
the habit of being a jolly fellow, meeting with a number of favored
companions to drink, and chat, and sing, and so on. I do not know that we did
very much amiss; but, still, I could not do it againif I became a Christian.
Suppose, now, that I should be invited to join the same company tomorrow—I
am not sure what I might do, I might refuse their invitation—but if I were
askedagainand again, and they jeeredat me for refusing, I might give in.
Suppose that I did not yield, there is another difficulty. I have been a man of
such-and-such a character, and have formed such-and-such habits; now, how
in the world am I to overcome those habits? How am I to become a Christian,
and to continue so to the end?” These are very proper questions, and I
answer—Youare utterly helpless, apart from Him who is able to succorthem
that are tempted; but if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will give you
a new nature. That new nature, it is true, will not at once castout the old
nature; your old nature will still be there, but
the new nature will struggle againstit; and, ultimately, through the effectual
working of the Holy Spirit, the new nature will prevail over the old nature,
and you will be “a new creature in Christ Jesus;” old things will have passed
away, and all things will have become new. You will say, as a young convert
did, when he came to join the church, “I don’t know which it is, but either
everything else is changed, or else I am.” It was in himself, of course, that the
greatchange had been worked, but that changedthe aspectof everything else.
Let me give you a little parable to illustrate this point. A lion and a tiger used,
frequently, to roam the forests together, in searchof prey that might satisfy
their bloodthirsty appetites. But, one day, an angelcame, touched the lion,
and changedhim into a lamb. The next day, the tiger came, and wantedthe
lion to go with him to his feastof blood. Do you think it was difficult for him
to refuse the invitation? Oh, no! “I have no inclination to go,” he said. The

tiger laughed scornfully, and said, “Aha! You have become pious, have you?
Now you will go to the sheepfolds, and sneak behind the shepherds’ heels—
you that were once so brave!” And the tiger despisedhim, and said, “You are
miserable to be thus tied up like a dog, and not to dare to come and do as we
have always done.” “No,” saidthe lion, “it is not that I dare not go with you,
but I have no wish to go. I am not miserable because I cannotgo with you on
such an errand— I should be miserable if I did go. The factis I cannot now do
what I once did, for I am not what I once was. My new nature has brought me
new loves, new hatreds, new preferences, new pursuits, so I cannot go with
you on your bloodthirsty expedition.” If God has workeda similar change in
you, and transformed the lion into a lamb, and the raven into a dove, it will
not be difficult for you to be kept from sin, for you will hate sin with perfect
hatred, and have no fellowship with it; and, besides that, as your nature will
be renewed, day by day, by the Holy Spirit, with a constantinfusion of
everything that is good, and gracious, and Godlike, do you not see that sin
shall no longer be like a strong spearto pierce you, but as a fragile reed which
shall snap againstthe armor of proof which your soul shall wear? Letme
remind you, who are thinking of going upon pilgrimage, but are afraid of the
lions and the dragons in the way, that He, under whose banner you hope to
enlist, never allowedone soldier, who was in His service, to perish. If you
become a sheepunder the care of the good Shepherd, remember that— “His
honor is engagedto save The meanest of His sheep.” If you are a mariner,
bound for the Fair Havens of eternalfelicity, recollectthat the Lord High
Admiral of the seas ofprovidence and grace has safelyconvoyedinto port
every vesselthat has yet been committed to His charge;not one has ever been
wreckedorlost in any way. Trust yourself to His protectionand guidance,
and He will bring you also safelyin. What if your temper is, naturally,
furious? What if your evil propensities have been indulged until they have
become as giants holding you in cruel captivity? What if your passions boil,
and burn, and blaze, like Vesuvius in eruption? What if your temptations
should come upon you as the Philistines came upon Samson? He, to whom you
commit the keeping of your soul, shall make you master over all; and you
shall yet be, with the greatmultitude that no man can number, more than
conqueror through Him who has loved you. Oh, that the Holy Spirit would
constrainmany of you, straightway, to leave your old master, and to enter the

service of the Savior! You will never find a better master than the Lord Jesus
Christ. “Ah!” said a sailor, seventy years of age, who had heard a sermon
that had deeply affectedhim, and, I trust, had been the means of renewing his
nature, “I am going to haul down my old flag today. I have sailedunder the
colors of the Black Prince all these years, but they are coming down today;
and I am going to run up the blood-red cross in their place, and I hope to sail
under that flag until I die.” So may it be with many of you! Say, “O Satan, we
have served you far too long! Miserable is your service, despicable are your
ways, degrading is our position, and awful must be our end if we remain in
your power.” Then turn to the Lord, and appeal to Him. Say, “O God, help
us! We cry to You. Bring us, we pray You, from under the tyrant’s sway. Help
us to yield ourselves up to You this very hour. Take our hearts, black as they
are, and washthem in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, Your well-beloved
Son. Change the hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Make us to be Your
servants while we live, and to enter into Your rest and Your glory when we
die.” I have thus, I hope, spokensomewhatto the comfortof young beginners
and anxious inquirers. III. Now, in the third place, I am going to speak briefly
TO BACKSLIDERS.
Where are you, backslider? I cannotpick you out; but there is an eye that sees
you, and that weeps overyou. Ten years ago, you used to sit down at the
communion table; twenty years ago, you were a reputable member of the
church; but you fell, and, oh, what a fall was yours! Since that time, you have
not wholly forsakenthe house of God, though you have wanderedhere and
there; but you have never dared to callyourself a Christian again. You lost
the light of God’s countenance long ago;and you find the service of Satan
very hard, yet you think you must go downward to despair. You feelthat you
are in the iron cage ofwhich Bunyan wrote, and you fear that you will never
get out of it. Poorbackslider, I cannot mention your name without a tear; and
if I, a fellow creature, thus weepover you, much more does that
compassionateSavior, who suffered being tempted, and who is able to succor
them that are tempted. Hark! If you will but incline your ear, you may hear a

note that will cheer your heart, and yet break it, too! ’Tis Godwho speaks,
and He is having a controversywith Himself over you. Justice says, “Destroy
him;” but Mercy says, “Spare him.” The very gospel, which you have
despised, witnessesagainstyou; but, at the same time, pleads for you. The
Lord still says to backsliders, as He did to His ancient people when they
wandered from Him, “Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord, for I am
married unto you.” “Marriedunto you!” This marriage bond cannot be
broken; you have played the harlot, and gone after many lovers; but your first
Husband hates putting away, and even now invites you to return to Him. So—
“To your Father’s bosompressed, Once againa child confessed; From His
house no more to roam, Come, O poor backslider, come!” I may even be
addressing some, who once drank from the cup of communion, but who have
turned aside to drink the cup of devils. I may be speaking to some, to whom,
for years, the Sabbath has been a day for business instead of a day for
worship. Yet you could never getthe sound of the Sabbath bell out of your
ears;and, evennow, you cannotforget the professionyou once made, or the
joys you once knew;and you cannot be easyin your sins. There is a spark of
heavenly fire that still lingers within you, and it will not die out, even though
you seek to quench it that it may not hinder you from going after your lusts.
That is God’s grip still upon you; oh that I might be His ambassadorofpeace,
to fling wide the doors of His mercy to you! Poorprodigal, you are clad in
rags;the sty is your only sleeping place, and the swine your only companions;
you would gladly fill your belly with the husks that they eat; but you must not,
for you are a God-made man, and swine’s food cannever satisfyyou. As you
stand here, perhaps there is a tear trickling down your cheek because ofthe
many years that you have spent in sin, and you are saying, “I would arise, and
go to my Father, but I fear that He has forgottenme.” Oh, saynot that! But
do as the prodigal did; arise, and come to your Father, for He will give you
such a receptionas the prodigal received. You shall have the kiss of
forgiveness upon your brow, the best robe of your Savior’s perfect
righteousness shallbe castall around you, the ring of everlasting love shall be
placed upon your finger, the shoes of peace shall be fitted to your feet, you
shall eat the fat things of the promises of God; there shall be music in your
ears, music in your house, music on earth, and music in heaven itself, because
he that was dead is alive again, he that was lost is found. This should be your

consolation:“In that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to
succorthem that are tempted.” Did I hear you say, “But I cannotsee how
Christ was everin the same position that I am in, for He was never a
backslider”? Thatis quite true; but what are your trials? First, you are tried
by the burden of sin that is resting upon you; and Christ had the sins of all His
people resting upon Him, so He knows whatthat burden means. Next, you are
tried by the loss of the light of God’s countenance;so was He, for He cried,
“My God, My God, why have You forsakenMe?”Then, you saythat you have
lost all your friends; so had He, for, in His time of trial, “they all forsook Him,
and fled.” You say, also, that you are despised, that you are the subject of the
song of the drunkard and the mirth of the mocker;so was He, for He could
truly say, “Reproachhas broken My heart.” So Christ can sympathize—not
with your sin, for He never had any of His own—but with your sorrow, which
is the consequenceof sin, for He had to bear all that before you did! IV. Now I
have to close by speaking TO THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY. I think I might
liken you, on a large scale, to that little band of pilgrims—Christiana, and
Mercy, and Matthew, and James, and the rest of them who started from the
City of Destruction—who, whenthey came to the Interpreter’s House, were
put under the escortofMr. Great-heart. I am not Mr. Great-heart—
I am but one of the children—but our greatSavior is Mr. Great-heart, and He
is going with us all the wayto the CelestialCity. We are but like those boys
and girls, and we are afraid of what we may meet on the road. There are lions
in the way; but Mr. Great-Heartcan kill them, or restrain them from hurting
us. There is Apollyon in the valley, but our Great-heartis more than a match
for the arch-fiend. We shall have to go through the Valley of the Shadow of
Death, yet eachone of us shall be able to say, “I will fearno evil, for You are
with me.” We shall have to go through the Enchanted Ground; but, as Christ
will be with us, we shall not fall asleepthere to our grievous hurt. We shall
have to go through Vanity Fair, and to bear the jeer and the jibe of the
mocking mob; but we can bear all that, for we shall have our greatCaptain
with us. But—and here comes the dark thought to some—we shallatlast

come to the dark river without a bridge. Mr. Great-heart—whomBunyan
meant to be the minister, had to go through the stream with the rest; but
when we come to the river, our Mr. Great-heart, Christ Himself—will go
through the river with eachone of us. He will put His almighty arm around
us; and when we get where our feetcannot feel the bottom, He will sayto each
one of us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through
the rivers, they shall not overflow you.” To die with Jesus is better even than
living with Him except that higher style of living with Him beyond the river of
death, for— “Jesus canmake a dying bed Feelsoft as downy pillows are,
While on His breast I lean my head, And breathe my life out sweetlythere.”
In this sense, our text shines like a cluster of stars. Jesus died, Jesus rose
again;in that He died, He can sympathize; in that He rose again, He can
succor. Lay hold of this text wheneveryou think of death with any gloomy
castin your mind; and let us go on our way, eachone singing— “Since Jesus is
mine, I’ll not fear undressing, But gladly put off this garment of clay; To die
in the Lord is a covenantblessing, Since Jesus to glory through death led the
way.”
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON:2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-18.
2 Corinthians 6 Verse 1. We then, as workers togetherwith Him, beseechyou
also that you receive not the grace of God in vain. God’s servants are calledto
take many different positions. They are ambassadors under one aspect;they
are workers under another. As ambassadors,they are ambassadorsfor
Christ; as workers, they are workers togetherwith God. Oh, how much it
costs to win a soul! I mean, not only how much it costthe Savior, so that He
broke His very heart over it, and poured out His life’s blood—but also how
much it must costthe messengerof peace!He must know how to beseechand
implore; and when even this fails, he must still go on toiling, laboring, as a
workertogetherwith God. 2. (For He says, I have heard you in a time
accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoredyou: behold, now is the
acceptedtime; behold, now is the day of salvation). I trust that, if I am

addressing any who say that it is too late for them to be saved, and that their
sin is too greatto be forgiven, this text will drive awaythat unholy and
unwarranted fear: “Behold, now is the acceptedtime; behold, now is the day
of salvation.” Thenthe apostle goes onto speak of himself, and the rest of the
apostles and other preachers of the Word— 3, 4. Giving no offense in any
thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God, As those early servants of the Lord really did. 4-10.
In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;by pureness,
by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love
unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of
righteousness onthe right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil
report and goodreport: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown and yet well
known, as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and
not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;as poor, yet making many rich;
as having nothing, and yet possessing allthings. All these things Paul and his
brethren were to be and to do in order to win souls for Christ; just as the
hunters in the cold North seek afterfurs, and try all sorts of plans to catchthe
wild creatures on which they grow. They will trap them, or snare them, or
shootthem; but, somehow or other, they will get them. They will be on the
alert all day, and all night, too. They will learn the habits of every creature
they have to deal with, but they will getthe furs somehow. And so must the
true minister of Christ be willing to be anything, to do anything, to suffer
anything, to bear reproachand shame, to be nothing, or to be all things to all
men, if by any means he may save some. 11, 12. O you Corinthians, our mouth
is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. You are not straitenedin us, but you
are straitenedin your own bowels. If they were not saved, it was not because
Paul did not open his mouth to speak to them, and to warn and invite them,
nor because he did not open his heart, and feel, in his very bowels, the
movements of a sacredcompassionforthem. Now, having thus spent himself
in his endeavorto bring them to Christ, he writes to those whom he did

bring— 13. Now for a recompense in the same. There must be some wagesfor
this blessedwork. The apostle wiselyputs it on that footing, as if, surely, they
were indebted to him; but the payment that he seeks is, ofcourse, no personal
gain to him; he only puts it in that form, but it is a gain to them. 13. (I speak
as unto my children), be you also enlarged. “There has been so much earnest
labor to secure your conversion, so be you also in earnestto bring in others.
Get large thoughts of God; be fully consecratedto Him; spend and be spent
for Him. Follow a goodexample.” Paul could well urge them to that
consecrationwhen he had given himself so completely to the work of winning
souls:“Be you also enlarged.” 14. Be you not unequally yokedtogetherwith
unbelievers: Not in any way—neitherin marriage, which is the chief of all
forms for yoking, nor yet in business or other partnerships. 14. For what
fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion has
light with darkness? Youmust be in the same world with them, but keep
yourself distinct from them. Go not into their societyby your own choice, nor
seek your pleasure with them. 15-18. And what concordhas Christ with
Belial? Or what part has he that believes with an infidel? And what
agreementhas the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will
be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among
them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons
and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
Jesus’ sympathy
Hebrews 4:15
Jesus understands our weakness. Although he is always God, he became completely man. And
daily, he knew the same kind of problems and difficulties that we suffer. He felt these things in
his own mind and body.
Jesus was not someone who talked much about his own feelings. But the Gospels (the books
about Jesus’ life) tell us about some of the things that he suffered. He had the same troubles that
are part of everyone’s experience in this world. He knows what it means to be tired (Mark 4:38)
and hungry (Matthew 4:2). He lived in a hot, dry country and sometimes he was desperate for

water to drink (John 4:6-7). He felt extreme strain (Luke 22:44). Often, people were trying to
kill him (Luke 4:29; Mark 3:6). He had many enemies.
But the Gospels do not tell us how extreme were the effects of these troubles on Jesus himself.
To find out that, you must read some passages from the Books of Isaiah and Psalms in the Old
Testament. The Old Testament means the 39 Bible books that already existed before Jesus’ birth.
God showed some of the prophets (holy men) who wrote those books about Jesus’ troubles.
Passages like Isaiah chapter 53, Psalm 22, Psalm 69 and Psalm 102 are clearly about Jesus.
And the descriptions of his troubles there are truly terrible.
Jesus suffered all these troubles. And by them, he qualifies to be our chief priest. Only a man
can act on behalf of other men and women as their chief priest (Hebrews 5:1). Only a man can
know how difficult it can seem to obey God. Only a man can truly sympathise with our
weaknesses.
But there was one difference between Jesus and us. We all sin (Romans 3:23). In other words,
we all do bad and wrong things that are against God’s law. Sometimes we all fail the test of
whether we are loyal to God. But Jesus never did. He never sinned. His closest friends, Peter
and John, were witnesses of that fact. Peter declared that Jesus was perfect (1 Peter 1:19). John
declared that Jesus is God. And he added that God is perfect (1 John 1:1-5).
And because Jesus obeyed God completely, his work as our chief priest was completely
successful. He dealt with all our sin.
Jesus Showed Sympathy
/conference2020 /conference2020

Written by:
Sarah BurtonPublished:
August 17, 2016
There is little more painful than the death of a child. Whether unborn, at birth, or later,
something deep inside us rebels at the thought of a child dying or preceding their parents in
death. Who didn’t feel pain reading the story of five-year-old Julianna Snow’s end-of-life
conversation with her mother?[1] Who watched the news of Sandy Hook unfold without feeling
anger toward the shooter and compassion towards the parents?
Luke Chapter 7 finds Jesus in the presence of a parent who has just lost a child. As he and his
followers enter the town of Nain, they are met by a sorrowful procession. A boy has died. We do
not know the age of the son of the widow of Nain. Jesus addresses him as “young man” in verse
14.
Luke takes great care to inform the reader that the dead boy is the “only son of his mother,” a
widow. As a widow, she would have depended upon her son to care for her and continue the
family line. Jesus would have known this all too well. In just a few chapters, he too will die,
leaving behind a weeping mother. John 19:26 recounts Jesus giving Mary into the care of “the
disciple whom he loved.” But the widow of Nain, it seems, has no one.
In his poignant poem, “The Widow of Nain,”[2] Scottish-born poet John Dunmore Lang (1799 –
1878) describes the scenes of Luke 7:11-16:
Slowly and sad a funeral-train
Advances from the gates of Nain,
As Jesus walks along the plain.
The corse they bear—a widow’s son!
Ah! how she weeps! her hope is gone,
And she is friendless and alone!
Jesus sees the woman and, Luke says, “he had compassion on her” (Luke 7:13). With the
comforting words, “Do not weep,” Jesus approaches the bier. Luke tells us that “he touched the

bier, and the bearers stood still” (Luke 7:14). Have you noticed how tangible some of Jesus’
healings are? Touching the leper, putting spit on a man’s tongue, rubbing clay on a man’s eyes,
and now touching a bier. According to Mosaic Law, such corpse-contamination would defile him
(Num. 19:11). Jesus is not worried about that. He addresses the boy, “‘Young man, I say to you,
arise.’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak” (Luke 7:14).
It is worth noting that this act is not only a miracle, it is an act of social justice. Widows were a
vulnerable demographic, along with the fatherless and sojourners. Old Testament laws regarding
their welfare make it clear that the community was responsible for their care (Example: Deut.
24:19-21). Jesus’ took that responsibility to a new level in resurrecting the widow’s son.
Jesus’ sympathy goes beyond emotional pity or sorrow to find expression in action. He fights
back against that which oppresses humanity, whether death, sickness, socio-religious
manipulation, or any other result of sin. In Matthew 14:14, Jesus saw the great crowd and not
only “had compassion on them,” he “healed their sick.” Through his sympathetic actions, he
subverts the devil’s domination of the world. His miracles are not so much supernatural as they
are a restoration of perfect creation. As Jürgen Moltmann states in his book The Way of Jesus
Christ, Jesus miracles “are the only truly ‘natural’ thing in a world that is unnatural, demonized
and wounded.”[3]
Jesus’ greatest act of compassion occurred on the cross. The characters are familiar: a grieving
mother, a dead son, and a group of mourners. But through his death and resurrection, he won the
battle against all sin. “Finally, with the resurrection of Christ, the new creation begins, pars pro
toto, with the crucified one.”[4]
The compassion of Christ continued after his Ascension. Ellen White writes in Desire of Ages,
“He who stood beside the sorrowing mother at the gate of Nain, watches with every mourning
one beside the bier. He is touched with sympathy for our grief. His heart, that loved and pitied, is
a heart of unchangeable tenderness. His word, that called the dead to life, is no less efficacious
now than when spoken to the young man of Nain. He says, "All power is given unto Me in
heaven and in earth." Matt. 28:18. That power is not diminished by the lapse of years, nor
exhausted by the ceaseless activity of His overflowing grace. To all who believe on Him He is
still a living Saviour.”[5]
In the story of the widow of Nain, we see a compassionate God, a God who overcomes evil, and
a God who brings life to the dead. Surely the life he offers is not to those who are only physically
dead. John Dunmore Lang concludes his poem with the following lines:
Jesus, my God! I too am dead
In sin, and quickly were I laid
In hell for ay, without thine aid!
But if thou say, “Young man, arise,”
Soon shall I ope my closed eyes,
And wake to life and heavenly joys![6]
To the oppressed, the grieving, and the spiritually dead, Jesus offers overflowing life. His
sympathy extends beyond pity offered at arms-length or institutionalized welfare. His sympathy
goes to the heart of the problem—evil—and attacks it. In the power of Jesus’ sacrifice, we too
can be agents of militant sympathy, assaulting the norm of pain and suffering by pointing to one

who suffered on our behalf. By following Christ’s example, we can embrace the suffering world
and offer more than just a Band-Aid for its wounds. We can show it how to be healed.
The Sympathy of Jesus!
Archibald G. Brown, September 10th, 1871, Stepney Green Tabernacle
"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews
4:15
More than a year ago I endeavored to lead your thoughts to this same text. Then
we meditated more particularly upon the words "high priest," and looked upon
our Savior as filling that office. This morning I purpose dwelling upon the
sympathy of Jesus as taught in the words, "Sympathize with our weaknesses."
With an old text, we shall yet tread on entirely new ground.
SYMPATHY! There is something in the very word that appeals to the heart and
commands attention. If all do not possess it, nearly all are ready to sing its praises.
Even in this fallen world, the hearts are few that will deny their tribute of
commendation to this gentle attribute. It has many friends, and few foes.
There may be, perhaps, and doubtless there is, a miserable little clique of dried up
souls who affect to despise sympathy as something too effeminate for them. They
never give it because it is not in them — and they never receive it for the same
reason. But these are a minority so insignificant that a bare mention of their
existence is almost more than they might expect.
The great mass of mankind, however fallen and hardened in sin, still has a soft
place left for the charms of sympathy. There may perhaps be something selfish in
the matter. Man knows that changes are so sudden, and almost as certain as
sudden — that the one who is upon the top of the wheel today, may be at the
bottom tomorrow. The probability therefore of himself needing sympathy,
suggests the exhibition of it to others.
But after deducting the selfish element, there yet remains a vast fellow-feeling in
mankind — a latent sympathy, often smouldering, which only needs the breath of
sorrow to make it leap into flame. It has been well said that, "Though the lower
animals have feeling, they have no fellow-feeling; it belongs only to man to weep
with those who weep, and by sympathy, to divide another's sorrows and double
another's joys."
I have read that the wounded stag sheds tears as its life blood flows fast upon the
purple heather — but never that its pangs and agonies drew tears from its fellows
in the herd. That finer touch of sympathy belongs to man alone. Sympathy is the
echo that a heart gives to another's cry of anguish.
But a few weeks ago I was in the land of mountains, crags, and rocks, and there,
at different well-selected spots, I heard the blast of the Swiss horn. Grand were

the echoes as they rolled among the mountain gorges, giving every snowy peak a
voice, and every pine-clad hill a tongue. It was marvelous to have the sound that
first came from our very feet, flung back upon our ears from distant ranges that
looked like the embodiment of silence.
But more musical by far, because it is more heavenly, is the response given by a
heart touched with the feeling of another's grief, and that grief is the grief of one
who has no legal claim on its sympathy. Well might the poet sing:
"No radiant pearl, which crested Fortune wears,
No gem that twinkling hangs from Beauty's ears;
Not the bright stars, which Night's blue arch adorn;
Nor rising Sun, that gilds the spring Morn;
Shine with such luster as the Tear that flows
Down virtue's manly cheek for other's woes."
Yes, clearer than the pearl — more lustrous than a thousand gems — more
cheering than the stars that light the night — and more radiant than the sun that
makes the day — is the sympathy that feels and weeps and helps.
But let it be remembered, the best of human sympathy is but human sympathy at
best. To see sympathy in all its exquisite perfections of tenderness, we have to
turn . . .
from man — to his Maker;
from the saint — to his Savior;
from earth — to Heaven.
This is what we desire to do this morning. In His great compassion, may our Lord
help our meditations. In dwelling upon the sympathy of Jesus, we will gather our
thoughts into three divisions as follows:
It flows through knowledge.
It is prompted by His nature.
It is deepened by His experience.
I. The Sympathy of Jesus flows through knowledge. Ten thousand springs of
earthly sympathy are sealed through ignorance. Bad though the world is, I yet
believe that half of what is put down as lack of sympathy might be more correctly
described as lack of knowledge. Not one tenth of the mass of misery existing,
comes before our eyes; and therefore what the eye does not see — the heart does
not grieve; and ignorance seals the springs of generous feeling which would
otherwise gush forth. Let me show you what I mean by an illustration.
In yonder room there is a happy mother surrounded by three or four healthy
romping children. It does my heart good to hear their merry ringing laughter, and
watch their innocent but ceaseless play. The mother's eye lights up with natural
pride, and yielding to the impulse of her heart, she joins her laugh with theirs, and
takes her part in the merry games. Evening comes, and one little darling after
another falls to sleep, soothed by the quiet lullaby she sings. Happy, happy sight.
Who would for a moment have it otherwise?

But come with me into the adjacent house, into the bedroom that is only separated
from the one I have described by a four inch wall. There is a mother there — but
what a contrast to the other. Her face is wan and pale, her eyes deep sunk and red
with weeping; yet through them her whole soul seems to look forth in an intensity
of anguish. She is sitting with hands clasped by the side of a little bed on which,
as white as the pillow on which his little head rests, lies her only boy, and he is
dying fast. He fights for breath and throws his poor little arms about, while the
death rattle sounds in his throat.
Yes, he is dying, her only boy. The only one left her on earth after her husband's
death. Dying, and with him are her hopes and expectations of a future happier
than the past. It is hard to realize, and harder still to bear. The very thought of the
blank his loss will make, convulses her with grief, as unclasping her hands she
holds her burning brow, and the big tears roll down upon the coverlet. Yes, her
boy is dying, and no one seems to care about it.
Hark! What is that? It is the shout of the children in the next house, as they romp
and play. Their laughter drives the dagger to its hilt! For them to be laughing —
and him gasping his last. The contrast is too great. Night comes on, and the dying
lad's face looks more ghastly still in the light of a single candle. And now the first
mother's voice is heard singing her evening song next door. It is more than the
poor crushed heart can bear, and she murmurs, "Why does she sing now? It is too
unkind!"
Wait poor soul; it is no lack of sympathy, only a lack of knowledge. Had that
happy mother known it was your dark hour, she would in a moment have hushed
the laughter of her children and, stopping her own song, she would have blended
her tears with yours. The wall that admits the sound, shuts out the sight.
Do you see that sailor's wife as she tosses her child in motherly glee, and laughs
as the sun glints upon the waters? Poor soul, she little thinks that her husband is
fighting for dear life in the waves at that very moment.
Or to come nearer home — as you walked to the house of God this morning in
company with your friend, you chatted about a dozen different things. To hurt his
feelings was furthest from your thoughts — and yet through ignorance of his
history and present position, you gashed his heart a thousand times! You did not
notice the shudder that ran through his frame when you spoke of so and so being
in financial difficulties, and suggested it could not be long before he went
completely bankrupt. No, you thought he was rather silent and so talked faster to
try and cheer him — not knowing that on the morrow the secret of his own
bankruptcy will be known, and his difficulties will be discussed in every business
circle. If you had but known it, you would rather have had your tongue plucked
out by the roots, than to have uttered the words you did.
The fault, if there was any, was not in the heart — but in the head. It is perhaps a
great mercy that but little of the sorrow which is in the world comes under our
notice; as it is, there is sufficient to make the heart ache, and test to the utmost our
powers of help. But to see it ALL would (if we had any sensitivity of soul) "touch"

Jesus was a man of sympathy

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Jesus was a man of sympathy