We turn now to our sermon passage for this morning, which is found in Hebrews chapter 2. We'll be looking at verses 14 through the end of the chapter, but to remind ourselves of the context, I'll begin at verse 10 of chapter 2. Hear now the Word of God, Hebrews 2, verses 10 through 18. For it was fitting for him, for whom all things are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one. For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the assembly, I will sing praise to you. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, here am I in the children whom God has given me. Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. Amen. Please be seated. In this section of Hebrews, the writer to the Hebrews is emphasizing how fitting it was for Jesus, the Son of God, to become man. It was fitting with the character of God himself, of course. because God would not by fiat just declare that men are saved and wave his hand and dismiss his demands of justice in order to save man. It is contrary to the justice of God to do so. No, it fit his justice because by sending his son to become man to die for us, he could satisfy his justice against our sins on him as our substitute, that he might have a just, righteous mercy upon us, that he might rightly exercise mercy towards us. But it also was fitting for our needs. This way of salvation was not only fitting to the character of God, but fitting to what we need as men. Because in becoming man, he stands in solidarity with us. He lives a life that we have lived, that we are living. He has experienced the things that we are experiencing. And he is able, therefore, to have pity upon us and to sympathize with us because he has suffered what we are suffering. He knows what you're going through at an experiential level. You are not alone because he knows what is happening because it happened to him before it happened to you. And so here, the incarnation of Jesus Christ ensures that he has pity joined with power to help us because of who he is and because he, as the God-man, knows what you're going through because he has gone through it. With that in mind, then, we'll look at our passage under two headings. The first is verses 14 through 16, that Jesus partook of blood and flesh to free us, that he became man, that is, to set us free from the fear of death in particular, and that he partook of flesh and blood to sympathize with us, verses 17 through 18. that he might have compassion and pity upon us because he experienced what we experienced today. We'll look then first at his partaking of flesh and blood to free us. In verse 10, it literally opens in the Greek with, since therefore, since therefore, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. This sense, therefore, clearly means that the writer to the Hebrews is continuing the argument he has made before, continuing the idea, the thought that he introduced in the previous verse. Remember, he cited Isaiah 8, 18, and there he said, Jesus declared the faithful remnant who stood with him to be his children. He was saying, in effect, that all of those who are true believers, who are born again, those who have a true nature like Christ, those who are spiritual as Christ is by the power of the Holy Spirit, those are his children. And he refers then to these children here, inasmuch then as these children have partaken of flesh and blood, inasmuch then as these true believers, these regenerate ones, these born-again children have partaken of flesh and blood, he too will partake with them. In other words, he's not speaking here of the whole of humanity. He's speaking specifically of believers of the elect, of Christians. When he refers here to Christ taking flesh and blood and standing in solidarity with us, with believers, not with humanity generically, not with everyone, but with the specific people that he has chosen and called and brought to himself, they are his children. And he became flesh and blood for their sake, for our sake. But what does this mean exactly, this phrase, flesh and blood? Clearly it makes explicit the physical nature of Jesus Christ. He was flesh and blood. He is flesh and blood. He became a true physical man. there was a great heresy historically called docetism in which men said he only appeared to be a man. He wasn't really a man. Well, this sort of statement, this phrase makes that heresy to sound foolish, doesn't it? He became flesh and blood, and you interpret that as he seemed like he was physical. No, he was physical. He was true man. He was tangible. He could be touched. He could be seen. He was flesh and blood as we are, taking to himself the true nature of man. But more than that, this phrase makes clear that he was made frail and weak as we are. The phrase flesh and blood is used throughout Scripture in contrast with that which is more powerful, that which is stronger. to emphasize the frailty and weakness of man. For example, in Ephesians 6, verse 12, as the apostle Paul there in that passage is commanding us to put on the full armor of God, the reason he impresses upon us the ceiling argument he makes as to why we need this full armor of God is this, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. It would be one thing if we were wrestling against flesh and blood. That's one thing that's manageable. But we need to put on the full armor of God because we're not merely wrestling against flesh and blood, that frailty and weakness of creatures. but rather we are wrestling against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness against spiritual forces. The corporeal being is weak and frail compared to the incorporeal being, and therefore it emphasizes the weakness of Jesus Christ in taking upon himself this humanity. To put it succinctly, there was a TV show I watched, and they hunted different monsters, and some corporeal, some incorporeal. Of course, this is fiction. But they said of one monster that they could not identify, if it bleeds, it can die. And that's true, because the life is in the blood. God made all creatures who have blood that they can die. They are subject to the dissolution of the body from the soul. And so we have here clearly the declaration that Jesus became weak and frail and subject to death. If he bleeds, he can die. And that is the very point of his becoming man. Notice, in as much sin as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. He came and became man in order to die. You see, the incarnation of Christ, the Christmas story is not about a cute little baby that was born. It is about the son of God condescending to this earth to humble himself, to become flesh and blood that he might die for us. The story of the incarnation is God becoming man because he intended to die. It is about death, the death of Jesus Christ and the dissolution of his body and soul on our behalf and the suffering of the wrath of God in our place. He came to die. And notice then that he came to die that he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is a devil. That might sound a little odd, in fact, that the devil is said to have the power of death. When you read scripture, it seems quite clear that in fact God has the power of death. God is sovereign over death, not the devil. And so, for example, we read in 1 Samuel 2, verse 6, the Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and brings up. Or in Revelation 1, 18, Jesus says, I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Is it not God who decides who dies when and how? Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ who opens and closes the grave? Is it not the triune God who has control over death? How then can the writer to the Hebrews say that the devil has power of death? He is speaking in a very limited manner of how the devil has power over death. He does not have power to decide who dies when and how and where they go, but he does have power over death in the sense that he was the one who brought it into this world. He enticed Adam and Eve to sin our first parents and brought death upon this world and continues to bind all sinners to death, that they would go through it and be condemned by it. He is in control of death or has power of death in that limited sense, but not for Christians, because the Lord Jesus, by his death, crippled Satan's power over us. This is the great irony of the gospel. That instrument, death, that the devil wielded with such gleeful hatred, becomes a very instrument used to render him powerless over believers. The death of Jesus Christ. And that is what this means here. We read in verse 14 that he might destroy him who had the power of death, but the Greek really does not read destroy there, but rather it reads to render powerless. Literally it means not to work. The idea then is not that Satan ceases to exist or ceases to be active, but it means rather that Satan with regard to the children of God, with regard to Christ's children, is powerless over them with regard to the fear of death. He is no longer able to torment us with impending death. He is no longer able to strike terror into our hearts because death is coming. That is what happened when Jesus Christ died, because he took the power of death, the curse of sin, from it. He drew out that poison from death. And now death is but an unpleasant door we enter into that we might experience eternal bliss. But it is true that those apart from Christ fear death. We read in verse 15, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Christ has released us from that bondage, not merely death here, but specifically the fear of death is in view. And men have every reason to fear death apart from Christ. And men do fear death apart from Christ. Whatever they claim, whatever they say, they know God, according to Romans 1. And their conscience testifies against them. And they recognize that the judgment of God is due to their sins. And they see the inevitability of death as a dooming sign, as a time of judgment from God, as a curse from God, as it truly is. They recognize and have a sense that this is the final moment and there is a reckoning to come. Now, they don't always say that, of course. They make many claims about death. They say, oh, death is just when we cease to exist all together. I'm not afraid of that. Or if, as you claim, there is a God, if that's true, he will accept me as good in heart because I am. or whatever else they claim to believe and to say, nonetheless, the reality is that they have a clear fear of death, that inexorable end to their life that they're marching towards and sliding into and cannot escape. They fear it. All their lives, they fear it. Here is how our catechism puts it, larger catechism, question 83. What is the communion and glory with Christ which the members of the invisible church enjoy in this life? The members of the Invisible Church have communicated to them in this life the firstfruits of glory with Christ, as there are members of Him their head, and so in Him are interested, that is, have a share in that glory which He is fully possessed of, and as an earnest thereof enjoy this sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and hope of glory. As on the contrary, sense of God's revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of judgment are to the wicked the beginning of their torments which they shall endure after death. There is a fear of death that is inherent in unbelievers, that they recognize it as a time of doom against them. One commentator, R. Kent Hughes, noted the novelist Somerset Maugham. And he was one who boasted in death and not fearing death. He called it a dissolving into nothingness. He was looking forward to death as a dissolving into nothingness. But when he actually died, he was shrieking in terror when he died. Men fear death, and apart from Christ, they have every reason to fear death, because death is, for the unbeliever, the final end of any common grace, the final end of any pleasantness, any joy, any hope whatsoever, and the plunging into everlasting wrath and torment. Oh yes, they have cause to fear death all of their lives as they march inexorably towards this end. But not so believers. Believers are freed from this fear of death. Because when Christ died, he freed us from the curse of death, and he made us to see death as it truly is now for us. An unpleasant door we must go through. Yes, it is still unpleasant. The dissolution of body and soul was never meant to be. It is, therefore, a very unpleasant thing. But yet, going through that unpleasant door is but the opening of eternal bliss to us as Christians. Eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. and with all the brethren gathered there in heaven above to worship and honor and adore Him forevermore, without any of the curse of sin, sickness, sorrow, death. That is what we look forward to. Christ, by His death, has freed us from this fear of death. We do not need to be afraid anymore. Now let me ask then this, Are there any here this morning that are apart from Christ? You do not trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. You do not believe what he says in his word. Well, then you have cause to fear death. And I implore you to turn from your sins to the Lord Jesus Christ, that you might not fear death, but know that it is but the opening of everlasting glory for you. But if you do not, you have reason now until the time you die to fear that moment of your death because it is awful and it is coming. But if you are a believer here this morning and you still fear death, why? Do you not believe the promises of God to you? Do you not believe what Christ has done for you? Do you not know that there's no reason to fear that which your Christ has conquered, that you're about following Him in that path of victory? Do you not believe that there is heaven to come for you, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ? Do you not believe there's a resurrection of the body that is to come? If you believe the promises of God, you do not have need to fear death any longer. Again, as some of the commentators put it, speaking of this, John Calvin said, from this fear Christ has delivered us, who by undergoing our curse has taken away what is dreaded in death. For though we are not now freed from death, yet in life and in death we have peace and safety when we have Christ going before us. Or Edgecombe Hughes puts it this way, first citing Luther, who says, he who fears death or is not willing to die, says Luther, is not sufficiently Christian. As yet, such people lack faith in the resurrection and love this life more than the life to come. Nothing in this whole universe, not even death, has the power to separate the Christian believer from the love of God, the living God, which is in Christ Jesus. Truly, for the man of faith, death has been swallowed up in victory. This truth should have a profound effect on the Christian's attitude, not only to his own death, but also to the death of friends and loved ones who fall asleep in the Lord. Do you fear death as a Christian? Why? Yes, it is unknown in the sense that we have not experienced it, and therefore daunting. Yes, it is unpleasant because the body was never meant to be separated from the soul. Yes, all those things are true. But do you fear death? Or do you not know what it is but the unpleasant door that opens into eternal bliss? If so, you have no reason to fear death. Dear believer in Christ, you have no reason to be terrified of that. Christ has freed us from this fear of death, becoming a man that he might die in our place and suffer the curse of death for us. This he did for us, but he did not do this for angels. Notice in verse 16, for indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham. The first thing to recognize is this, that the word aid there, I do not believe is properly translated. Literally it means take upon, epi plus lambano in the Greek, take upon. And throughout the New King James, everywhere except for this verse, it is translated consistently with that. It is never translated aid. It is translated take upon. And up until the 17th century, it was always translated take upon himself, not aid. Rather, suddenly it was changed into the weaker form of aid. But no, I believe what he's saying here is that Christ did not take upon himself the nature of an angel to save angels, but he took upon himself the nature of man to save men. That is how he aided, of course. It is true this is an aid to us, but it's speaking about taking upon himself our nature, that he assumed to us our nature. But notice, not just the nature of man in general, but he assumed to himself the seed of Abraham. Remember, the great covenant that specified God's particular people began with Abraham, and so you have here Christ identified with not merely mankind generically, but with the covenant people of God, specifically with the true seed of God, the true believers of God in particular. We are the seed of Abraham, who believe as Abraham believed. And Jesus Christ came and took upon himself the nature of man to identify himself with us as his people. Not with mankind generally, but with us as the covenant people of God, as the seed of Abraham. He stands in that line. He stands in solidarity with that people, with us. That is why he became man. That is why he assumed himself the nature of man. It is for us. And he had to be made flesh and blood like us that he might die for us and free us from the terror of death. Well, that is our first point. The second point is that he partook of flesh and blood in order to sympathize with us. We are told in verse 17, therefore, in all things he had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. That is, he had to be made like us not only in the physical flesh and blood nature of man, but in the desires of man, the affectionate nature of man as well. That is, the all things includes even that sort of experience. Notice how several commentators put it. You have Edgecumbe Hughes who says this. It follows, therefore, that he had of necessity to be made like his brethren, that is, to identify himself completely with mankind, who he came to rescue by a true incarnation involving the assumption not only of flesh and blood, but also of all human feelings and sensibilities in every respect. Representation requires identification. He had to be made like us that his sufferings could replace ours. And part of that suffering is not only physical, of course, but mental suffering. Peter T. O'Brien adds, in the earlier reference, the focus was upon Jesus's adoption of human nature. Here the stress is on his sharing in all the experiences of life. And finally, John Calvin concludes, he had not only put on the real flesh of man, but also all those feelings which belong to man. He not only experienced the weakness of flesh and blood, but he experienced the feelings that we experience as well. he had to be made to feel and to suffer as a man that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest for us. Why? What does it mean to be a high priest? A high priest should be merciful and compassionate because he's dealing with those burdened souls, grieved by their sin, who rend their hearts and come and seek to be assured of pardon by the atoning blood of the sacrifice. Therefore, a merciful high priest must be one filled with compassion, that he might carefully assure them of the forgiveness they have by that sacrifice. If he were not merciful and compassionate towards them, if he did not himself understand the misery that they had experienced, then he would more easily cut corners, not be faithful and diligent in prosecuting his ministry. He might do it roughly and dismissively, and they might wonder whether or not really there is truth in these things. He might do it for self-gain, that he might take advantage of his role. But if he has compassion upon those who come to him, then he will with great diligence and care perform his role as a priest so that those burdened souls who come to him will know that through God's word, according to God's way, there's atonement made for those sins, and they're forgiven. Therefore, he had to be a merciful and therefore faithful high priest in order to prosecute his job correctly and faithfully. In other words, for 30 years, he lived his life and suffered with man as a man, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest, that he might know the fellow feelings of man. Here is how Edgecombe Hughes puts it. Mercy defines the motivation of his high priestly office and faithfulness its execution. Having put his hand to the plow, he did not turn back. He fulfilled all that he had promised. Temptation and torment did not turn him aside from his gracious purpose. Faithful to the very end, he drained the bitter cup of suffering to its last dregs for our redemption. Our hell he made his, that his heaven might be ours. Never was there such mercy, never such faithfulness as this. John Calvin adds, for in a priest whose office it is to appease God's wrath, to help the miserable, to raise up the fallen, to relieve the oppressed, mercy is especially required. And it is what experience produces in us. It is a rare thing for those who are always happy to sympathize with the sorrows of others. An acquaintance with our sorrow and misery so inclines Christ to compassion that he is constant or faithful in imploring God's aid for us. He had to be made like us, even in his affections and feelings, even in his experiences as a man, that he might have true pity upon us, that he might develop fellow feelings towards us. When he was the son of God, he did not suffer, brethren. He did not understand suffering in the experiential sense that we do as those who undergo it. But when he became man, he experienced sufferings. He knows exactly what suffering is because he has gone through it. So that when you suffer, he knows what that is and can have that experiential fellow feeling of compassion and pity and sympathy with you and your sufferings. He had to become like us in all ways that he might become the merciful and faithful high priest for us in things pertaining to God. What does that mean, things pertaining to God? It is literally things to God, and refers to the things that are necessary to make propitiation for men to God or towards God. Notice that is what he says, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. He had this compassion and this pity upon us so that He made propitiation for our sins. That's a big word, isn't it? Propitiation. Children, do you know what propitiation means? It's a big word, but it is important to know what it means. And it means this. If you children have ever done something bad and your dad is frowning upon you, and you don't like the look of his frown, and it means that there is some sort of discipline coming, right? And then suddenly he starts to smile upon you, beaming with a smile upon you, instead of condemning you, instead of disciplining you, instead of being angry with you, suddenly he's just really happy with you. That's propitiation. It is a turning of wrath into pleasure, the turning of a frown into a beaming smile. In short, that is what propitiation means. And it means then that before God was propitiated, things were not right with us. He was angry with us. It means that God is angry with sinners every day, and His wrath is pure, and it is unending, and that is what we deserve. So what happened to change that frown of God into a beaming smile upon us? Well, it was Christ. It is Christ who made propitiation for us. It is God the Father who so loved us that He sent Christ that He might have just mercy upon us. And the word propitiation is bound up with the passage we read earlier in our service, Leviticus 16. Because in Hebrews 9, 5, for example, the same word in the Greek is used to describe the mercy seat. Leviticus 16, you recall, that we read, speaks of the only time in the year, once in the year, that the high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, where the mercy seat was, and put blood there. Now what was the mercy seat? Well, it was atop the Ark of the Covenant. It was a golden box in which was always and consistently the Ten Commandments or other things too, but always that. And it was, of course, behind it were the cherubim overshadowing it. And it was God's throne in Israel. He spoke from above it as he sat on it. He spoke from that throne in Israel. But here's the problem. That throne has in it, embedded in it, the law. His throne was founded upon justice and righteousness. It is the law that is at the center of his throne and his rule. How, then, can he be happy with the people who are lawbreakers? How can he smile upon those who are sinners? In comes the high priest with the blood of the sacrifice, and he covers the law inside with the blood. He covers the demands of the law and satisfies those demands by his blood. That is how God can be pleased with us now, because our sins and the demands of justice against him are satisfied. And we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, so that when he looks upon us, he doesn't see sinners. He sees those as righteous as Christ, and is pleased with us, of course, as he was pleased with Christ. And so that is what happened to turn that frown of God into a beaming smile of pleasure in his people. It is Christ who makes propitiation for our sins. It is Christ who has made God to be pleased with us instead of angry with us. That is the propitiation and what it means in Scripture, a very important concept in the Word. But notice then, we conclude in verse 18, for in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted. His care as high priest continues after he makes propitiation for our sins, after he died on the cross and said, it is finished, the atonement was finished, but his care continues for us. And so he continues to plead for us, he continues to help us, he continues to give us aid. The word for aid here is a different word from the word used previously. It doesn't mean to take to yourself, it means truly help or aid someone. So that here we find that Jesus Christ is able to aid us because he himself has suffered, because he himself knows what it is like and is filled then with compassion for those who are suffering. The aid comes from one filled with compassion for us because he has a fellow feeling because he has suffered as we do. We sympathize with others who are in pain precisely because we know what pain feels like. When they suffer, we know that feeling and so we have sympathy naturally for them and we have pity upon them. But the Son of God never felt pain before becoming a man, but now he has. And his sympathy for us arises from that experience of pain that we have experienced. And the specific type of pain that is in view here, notice, is the pain of undergoing temptation. Jesus was tempted by the master of temptation, Satan himself. Satan, you recall, came to Jesus after he'd fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and he challenged him to make bread out of stones to satisfy that hunger. Is it not a draw when you are starving to be filled? Is that not a temptation? Is that not a struggle? Do you not want to eat the bread? Likewise, he came and he said to him that if God really loves you, if you really are the son of God, then throw yourself off the temple and Lord will save you if he really loves you. Prove it. You're so low and miserable. You're so insignificant and despised. How could God really love you? Do something rash that he will prove his love for you. Is it not a temptation to desire to see God's love for you proven and established in the midst of suffering and insignificance? Likewise, he said to Jesus Christ, the third and final temptation, that if you'll but worship me, I will glorify you and give you all this world for your own. That is exactly what God had promised to give to Christ, the whole world for his own. But it wasn't time yet. He must suffer a long time yet before he is glorified. But is it not a temptation, is it not a draw to see that you can end all of your sufferings and be glorified? Is that not what we desire? Is that not what Christ desired? But instead of achieving those good and desirable ends according to the false means Satan proposed, he denied them each time. But he knows the power of temptation. He knows the enticement of it. He knows the attraction of it. He knows the force of it, tempted by Satan himself. And remember, that is what the Hebrews are dealing with here. They're tempted to forsake Christ. They are tempted in the face of fierce persecution to abandon Christ in order to escape that pain and suffering. Would it not be an agonizing decision? You're faced with death or the maiming or the harming of your loved ones, the destruction of your family members or yourself, or you can forsake Christ, return to Judaism and still have the true religion, right? I mean, it's Judaism. how it could be an agonizing decision, a painful temptation to abandon Christ and escape that persecution. And in the midst of this temptation, the writer to the Hebrews says, Jesus knows exactly what you're going through. He knows the power of temptation. He knows the struggle of temptation. He knows this battle that is going on within you. He understands it exactly. He experienced it. And therefore he stands in solidarity with you as one who has pity upon you and one who can help you and strengthen you. And the same is true for us today. We are tempted in the same ways that Jesus was tempted, that the Hebrews were tempted. We are tempted to say, Really, if God cares for us, as he says he does, why is it so difficult to make it in this life, to provide for ourselves and our families? Why don't we cut corners? Why don't we compromise our faith, our integrity, in order to assure that we can provide for ourselves and our families? Is that not the temptation of the bread? You're hungry. It's a good thing to supply yourself what you need. It's a good thing to eat. Those are all good things. Just don't do it exactly the right way, and you achieve that end. Are we not tempted, for example, in this life as we suffer, as we're so insignificant in many ways, as we're so despised? Are we not tempted as Jesus Christ then to do something foolish and rash, to say to God, for example, you must do this or you must do that for me if you really love me, this is how you'll prove it. Are we not as the Lord Jesus Christ as well those who long for glory, long to end the suffering of this life, long to be glorified as we ought to be as God's people one day. So that we seek to gain that also in rash and ungodly ways. And we come to God and say, why haven't you brought us to heaven already? Well, these are the same temptations that Jesus faced. And likewise, the temptation that the Hebrews faced when they looked out upon the world that was hostile to them, the world that was about to begin to slaughter their kind. And are we not those who, when we see that the world will despise us for what we believe, will mock us, will ridicule us, we might lose out on some advantages in this world if we speak plainly about what we believe, that we, like Peter in fear, are silent or deny Christ even before the world? The Lord is saying He understands temptation. All of those temptations, He understands them. He's gone through them himself, yet without sin. And that means that he never stopped until the very end of the temptation. We might think that his temptations were really less than ours because he never fell to them. No, that just means the struggle endured to the very, very end, whereas often our struggle doesn't endure very long into the temptation. It means he endured the full suffering of temptation and understands the exact and full nature of that pain, of that agony. And he has pity upon you who go through it as well. and not just pity. As we sang, it is that he is full of pity, joined with power to help you to stand through this temptation, to help you in it and endure these sufferings. Here is how Matthew Henry puts it. He is touched with a feeling of our infirmities, a sympathizing physician, tender and skillful. He knows how to deal with tempted, sorrowful souls because he has been himself sick of the same disease, not of sin, but of temptation and trouble of soul. The remembrance of his own sorrows and temptations make him mindful of the trials of his people and ready to help them. Here observe, first, the best of Christians are subject to temptations, to many temptations. If Jesus Christ himself was, surely every Christian is while in this world. Let us never count upon an absolute freedom from temptations in this world. Secondly, temptations bring our souls into such distress and danger that they need support and succor, that is relief or help. And thirdly, Christ is ready and willing to succor to help those who are under their temptations who apply to him. And he became man who was tempted that he might be every way qualified to help his people because he has suffered as we suffer and understands it and sympathizes and has power to aid us in those sufferings. Beloved brethren, the very Son of God became flesh and blood and endured all the sufferings that frail nature entails in order to become your merciful and faithful high priest who sympathizes with you and helps you through. You are not alone. Jesus has condescended to stand with you and to support you. He knows what you're going through. He went through the same thing. And whenever you have failed, He was victorious on your behalf. And whenever you struggle, He is there with you, full of compassion and power to help you. Truly, it was fitting that He should become man, that we might be redeemed by Him who in all ways is made like unto us. Let us pray. Our Father, as we come now before you, we come as those who are encouraged and emboldened because we can come in the name of Jesus Christ, our merciful and faithful high priest who ever lives to make intercession for us, who knows exactly our trials and our troubles and our sorrows because he endured them himself and sympathizes with us in them. And now, Lord, we come therefore in his name and ask that you would be pleased to impress these truths upon our hearts, that we might truly love and praise the Lord Jesus Christ for all he has done and come to him in our time of need and know that he is with us and for us. And now we do ask simply what Christ Jesus himself has taught us to ask by praying together. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.