We'll turn to Hebrews 2 and we'll take up a reading from verse 10 of Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 and verse 10, speaking of God here, it says, For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily, he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. And we end there at the end of verse 18. And during Christ's public ministry, there were numerous times when people came to the Savior in a state of desperation and their hope was Jesus Christ might be able to help me in Matthew 15. You've got a Canaanite woman who came to Christ from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. She was worried about her daughter, who was troubled by a demon. And she came in Matthew 15, 25, she worshiped him, and she simply said, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. And we might use different words ourselves, but that simple statement, that really does sum up our cry as we come to the Lord. Lord, help me. And thankfully, like that Canaanite woman, you find that Jesus Christ is able to help. And that's emphasized at the end of this chapter. It's the same Greek word that the Canaanite woman used, help me, help, that's used here in verse 18, when we read of Christ that he's able to succor, that is to help them that are tempted. As we face trials and temptations in this world, Here's a savior who really can help us. In Christ, we've been given a savior who can help. And that's our theme tonight, a savior who can help. And first of all, as we take this idea in, let's think about the recipients that Christ can help. If you look at verse 16, it says, for verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. And you'll see there's a contrast there. The first thing we could highlight is that Christ came to help men, as opposed to angels. Mankind, you could say, as opposed to angels. Now, as it's put in the King James here, it says, he took not on him the nature of angels, but rather took on the seed of Abraham. That's obviously human people, part of mankind. Now, let me say a bit about the translation of verse 16. You'll see that in the King James, a number of the key words are in italics. That's one of the techniques used by the translators to be very upfront, to be very honest about which words are actually in the original Greek or Hebrew in the Old Testament. Those italics, they tend to come up in places where, for the sake of readability or maybe to give a bit of explanation at times, The translators have added something in, but they've wanted to be very clear that this is their edition. This is not what's in the original text. So that's why they've used italics there, which is a very helpful thing. The point is that the actual text says nothing about the nature of angels. The King James translators put it in their margin that the Greek sentence is, for verily, he taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham, he taketh hold. You certainly can from that make the suggestion that the nature of angels and men is in view, that Christ takes our nature to himself, and of course he does. But that is just an interpretation of the Greek. That's not actually what the Greek says. The Greek says he took hold. He taketh not hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he taketh hold. I'd suggest the basic point for now is simply that Christ reaches forth and lays hold of Man, specifically of the seed of Abraham, so as to help. That's the idea that he lays hold of, to help. That's all the Greek says, he lays hold of, he taketh hold. In Matthew 14, verse 31, it uses the same word, and the scene there really helps to emphasize the point. It's where Peter has stepped onto the water in faith, and all starts well, but then he sees the wind is boisterous, and he gets afraid, and he takes his eyes off Christ, and he begins to sink, and he then cries out, Lord, save me. And we read, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him. And it's that same word, caught him, same word. I think that certainly illustrates this very well. I suggest the main point of verse 16, at least the main point that it explicitly makes, you can add in the idea of taking the nature of men as opposed to angels, certainly that's true. But the main point that is explicitly made is that Jesus Christ has taken hold of, not angels, but men at the seat of Abraham. Now, if you think of that scene where Peter is sinking beneath the waves, that is a good illustration, not only of men, but of angels too. Obviously, you could think of mankind sinking under the waves of sin. You know, we've sinned against God, we've failed under temptation, we've brought God's condemnation upon ourselves. As the hymn puts it, we were sinking deep in sin, sinking to rise no more. And we desperately needed Christ to stretch forth the hand and to take hold of us and to lift us up from the waves. We needed his help. But you could say that, likewise, many of the angels have sunk deep in sin and have sunk so as to rise no more. You know, when the Bible speaks of Satan or when it speaks of the demons, These are not creatures that were made evil. God did not make evil creatures. Our God made all things very good. And the demons are angels, angels that started off good, but that have fallen from grace. And just like them, we have rebelled against God. And just like them, we have not kept our first estate. And just like them, we have brought ourselves under God's judgment. Just like them, the fallen angels, we are awaiting our doom at the day of judgment. And when it comes to the angels, Christ has not stretched forth a hand to help them. He has not taken hold of them. Those angels which fell, they've been left to drown under the waves of sin. And think of it, the reality is that could have been us as well. The God who didn't owe anything to the devil. He didn't have to save Satan, and obviously he doesn't save Satan. Well, he didn't owe any more to you or me than he owed to Satan. One of the reasons that the gospel is so shocking is that when we fell in our sin, mankind put ourselves on the very same path as the devil. We followed step by step on the road that he had trod, a road of pride and rebellion against God. When he fell, There was no help for him. When the demons fell, there has been no help for them. And so why should we expect help? And yet, astonishingly, Christ came to give us help. He takes hold of the seed of Abraham. He takes hold, not of angels, but of men. Now, why is it today that you're not doomed just the same as Satan? Why is it that after you've followed in the same path, that you don't end up in the same perishing condition? And the only answer is, the grace of God. We have a savior who is given to men and he helps men. Praise God for that. We didn't deserve this. Men could have just been left to our doom, but God has given us a savior. Praise God for that. And since his help is extended to us, of course, how we ought to rejoice in that help and avail of it. What a blessing mankind has received from God that Christ, while he has bypassed fallen angels, he has laid hold of us. As you think about the recipients of Christ's help, you'll notice that Christ came to help the seed of Abraham specifically, as opposed to all. Verse 16 does not say that Christ took hold of men in general. Specifically, Christ took on the seed of Abraham. And the point there is that God's people are in view particularly. Now, the reference to Abraham It brings you back to the covenant that God made with Abraham way back in Genesis. God told Abraham that he'd make him a great nation and bless him and that in Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. The Lord told Abraham that his seed would be like the stars in the sky. There'd be so many that they could not be numbered. God had covenanted with Abraham and promised to bless Abraham and these were gospel promises. These were fundamentally gospel promises. Abraham, when he was promised a family, when he was promised a land, when he was promised all of this, these were ultimately gospel promises fulfilled through Christ when ultimately all things, I suppose the ultimate fulfillment is when God's people inherit the earth, when God's people inherit all things. But Abraham received gospel promises, and that was God further establishing his church even back then in Old Testament days. Quite a number of commentators suggest that this language in Hebrews, that's actually an allusion to Isaiah 41 verses eight and nine. In that passage, God is reminding his people of the help that he gives. In that setting, they might be scattered, they might be in exile and brought very low, but here's something that they will be able to hold on to, that God is still their God. and that he shall accomplish his purpose, and he shall save his people. In Isaiah 41, verse eight, the Lord declares, but thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friend. You're the seed of Abraham, my friend, and that's why you're blessed. You're the seed of Abraham. And then to make the connection even stronger to Hebrews here, the very next verse in Isaiah, Isaiah 41, verse nine, it describes the people as, thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, thou whom I have laid hold of from the ends of the earth and called thee from the chief men thereof and said unto thee, thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. And God is saying to his people, I've chosen you, I've set my love upon you in particular, out of all the nations of the earth, you are mine and therefore I will come for your help, I will bless you. And so in Isaiah 41 verse 10, you get that wonderful verse, Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. God is saying, you're the seed of Abraham, you're my chosen people, the people that I have taken to myself, so I will help you. That is ultimately the great thrust of this last portion in Hebrews 2. Christ has laid hold of the seed of Abraham, taken such to himself, taken such upon his heart, and so he is the one who can succor them, who can help them. Now, it's important to stress when the Bible speaks about the seed of Abraham, we're not just thinking about the ethnic biological children of Abraham. I mean, even in the Old Testament times, that wasn't the case. In the Old Testament times, if a Gentile like Ruth, for example, comes to faith and enters into the community of God's people, they are received and they are considered ultimately right alongside the ethnic children of Abraham. And the New Testament makes it even more explicit. But it wasn't an altogether new thing when, for example, Romans 4 verse 16 teaches that the gospel promises, they come to the seed of Abraham, Not just to law keepers, but to those who are of the faith of Abraham. It teaches that Abraham is the father of us all. Paul quotes from Genesis 17, four, where Abraham is said to be a father of many nations. And in Romans four there, Paul is teaching this truth under the inspiration of the spirit that Abraham's children are believers from all the nations of the earth. Those who follow in Abraham's footsteps of faith, those who look to the Lord, that's the seed of Abraham. You know, that was the seed of Abraham in the Old Testament. Again, in the Old Testament, it tended to look like an ethnic people because, well, believers tended to be those who actually came and participated in the community of the nation of Israel. But even Gentiles could do that, like Ruth, like others, like Rahab. It's not a new thing in the New Testament, but it's made more explicit as the gospel goes into all the earth. And the seed of Abraham are those who believe, those who are of the faith of Abraham. And that's what's in view here. That's what's in view here. Christ has come to help his church. That's another way of putting this. He's come to help those that are his by covenant. To use the language of Isaiah 41, his help is for this people whom God has chosen, whom God has taken to himself from the ends of the earth. He's come to help all those who put their trust in him. Now, today, there are plenty in this world who don't receive the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many other men and women, and they don't know Christ. They have no benefit from Christ, at least not in terms of his saving benefits. And yet, here we are, any of us who believe him, and we share in the faith of Abraham, and we've been made one of God's people through faith in Christ, and he is our help. He's come to lay hold of you. and to lift you from the waves of sin and to establish you. And again, think of it in a world where many go without the help of Christ, how this ought to humble our hearts. How blessed I am, you know, what am I that the Lord should help me? He didn't give saving help to the multitudes of fallen angels. Even when I followed in their steps, he's given help to me. Who am I that he should help me when so many others around me in this world who are no worse than me, they're sinners just the same as me, and they don't receive his help, and yet here I am, no better, and yet he helps me. How they should humble our hearts. What a blessing when out of the mass of created angels, out of the great mass of humanity, what a blessing when you know that Christ has graciously come and laid hold of you. He's given his aid to you. He's given his help to you. So we thought about the recipients that Christ can help. Let's move on and notice the reason Christ can help. Verse 17 says, If you let me sort of paraphrase verses 16 and 17, the basic flow is, you know, verily, or you could say obviously, he didn't give his saving help to angels, but rather to the seed of Abraham, Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made like the seed of Abraham, like his brethren in every way. And here's where you very definitely do get the idea of Christ taking our nature, not the nature of angels, but our nature. He's come to help us, so he takes our nature. He's made like onto his brethren. In all things, he's made like onto his brethren. Now it's worth remembering one of the things this letter is doing is to defend the, we'll say the strange way of salvation that God has engaged in. The strange way of salvation where God becomes a seemingly weak and feeble man and suffers. God doesn't save his people through some obviously powerful means. Instead, he saves his people through a path of humility and weakness and suffering and shame. And for many unbelieving Jews, the idea that God would become man in all of man's weakness, that just seems ridiculous. And Hebrews is seeking to show that at the very same time, Jesus Christ is the God on the throne who is greater than every angel. That was the emphasis in chapter one. But at the same time, he voluntarily took his place, a place that, at least temporarily, seems lower than the angels, and he voluntarily entered into this. And Hebrews is telling us why. It's because he came not to save angels, he came to save men. It's the seed of Abraham he came to save, and so he had to come forth as a man. If he'd been helping angels, well, perhaps he might have taken the nature of angels. But that's not what he's doing. That's not the plan. He came to lay hold of us. He came to save us. It was necessary then for him to be one of us. And by the way, a little side note. Certainly the implication of verses 16 and 17 is that obviously Christ didn't take the nature of angels. It's stated as a very obvious thing. It's man that he laid hold of. It's man that he had to be made like, not the angels. And there's a verse that certainly poses a challenge to say the Jehovah's Witnesses who would argue that Christ is, well, essentially by nature a chief angel, the first created spiritual being. Well, the implication of these verses is Christ does not have the nature of an angel. He came to be like us, not the angels. He came to be like us. He came to take our nature because it's us, not the angels, that he's saving. So that's the thrust of the argument here. Christ came to lay hold of us, So it's necessary for him to be made like us and to be made like his brethren in all things. For our purposes today, let me just highlight afresh that in order for Jesus Christ to save us, he has to be one of us. That's what the wording here gets at. It behoved him. It was necessary for him, you could say, to be made like us and to be made like us in all things. Obviously, the one limit on that statement, which Hebrews will make clear later, is the fact that he was without sin. He wasn't like us in terms of sin, but apart from sin, he was like us in all things. He didn't have a sinful nature like us. He wouldn't commit sin like us, and yet, With that obvious caveat, in every way, he is genuinely like us. And the focus here, it's especially on Christ's experience of life. He's like us in our weakness and in our limitations. That's why it goes on to stress in verse 18 that he himself has suffered being tempted. He's like us in our weakness. And therefore he's faced real trials and temptations in life. If you like, in order to be the help that we need, Christ had to first put himself in our shoes. He was born into this world as a weak and feeble baby. For the first years of his life, he was utterly dependent on his earthly parents, his mother, Mary, his adopted father, Joseph. He's utterly dependent on them to put food on the table for him, to provide for his clothes, to keep a roof over his head. Throughout his life, he experiences all the same challenges as us. I mean, Scripture speaks of him hungering, and that's genuine hunger. He felt that hunger. He knew the dreadful, uncomfortable feeling in the stomach when you're ravenous and you need to eat soon. He felt it. The Savior thirsted like us. He knew what it was to have a dry, cracking throat and to be desperate for water. The Savior got tired like us. He had to sleep like us. He knew what it was for his eyes to droop. He knew all the same physical impulses as us when we tend to respond with irritability and grumpiness. Of course, that's not how Christ responded, but he knew the physical impact of tiredness on his body and on his mind. He was a real man, a true man, and he underwent the same real life as you and me. His life, we always need to be clear on this, Christ's life was not some pantomime show put on where he looks like us, but he's utterly different. Yes, in one sense, he's utterly different. He's the God-man. Of course he's different. But with regard to Christ's humanity, it's a true, it's a complete humanity. It's a real humanity. And he lives a real human life. As flesh and blood, as body and spirit, he's made like his brethren in all things, in every way. Now again, as we've highlighted in past weeks, how astonishing that should be to us. that the almighty God who is without any limitations whatsoever, the God who's in need of nothing, who upholds all things by the word of his power, that he should subject himself to all the same feebleness that we face, all our limitations and all our weaknesses, and yet it's because he went through all of this that he's a savior who can truly and wonderfully help us. So with that in mind, let's think finally about the ways Christ can help. These verses highlight two key things. Of course, you could add many more things to this. We've already considered other things in other weeks. But as we stick to this passage, let me highlight two key ways in which Christ stands as our help today. First of all, he can help us as a perfect high priest. Verse 17 teaches that he was made like us in all things, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Now, this is the first time in Hebrews where Christ is explicitly called a priest. The basic idea has already been there, especially at the start of chapter one, but this is the first time you get that explicit label put to Christ. He's our high priest. The high priest in Israel, obviously, was one who was chosen out from the people by God to be a mediator between God and men, the go-between. The first high priest of Israel was Aaron, and at Mount Sinai, he's anointed to that office, and from that time on, he's going to stand in the place between God and men. As he approached God, he would represent his people, especially as he brought sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people, and then as he made intercession, as he came before God and as he pleaded the case of his people, and he sought God's mercy on the basis of the sacrifice, he was coming before the Holy One to represent his people, his nation, to God. The other part of his role was to represent God to the people. So for example, in Numbers 6, At the end of number six, I think it is, Aaron and his sons, the priests, are to bless the children of Israel. They pronounce the benediction. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. And there's a sense in which they're coming as the representative of God and they're conveying, here's the blessing of God for his people. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. Or in Leviticus 9, 22, after he's offered the sin offering, the burnt offering, the peace offerings, Aaron came down to the people He lifts up his hands toward the people, and again, he blessed them. And this was the priest who had been in the presence of God, who had offered the sacrifice, who's been pleading for the people before God, and who has been successful in his duty. He now comes to the people, and he represents God, and he conveys the blessing of God to the people. If you like, first of all, he stands before God, represents the people, and then with that work done in the presence of God, He comes and he represents God and conveys God's blessing to the people. He reassures the people that God accepts the sacrifice and God graciously accepts you. Well, that's the role that Christ has stepped into. He's become our merciful and our faithful high priest. He's certainly merciful to us in that all the mercy of God is conveyed to us through Christ and As we'll emphasize in a minute, he can be merciful also because he's able to sympathize with us. Again, we'll focus on that more in a second. He's also faithful. He's a good high priest who faithfully fulfills his duty before God and perfectly represents us. I suppose you could also apply it that he's faithful to us, his people. He's one who deals well with us, who is able to uphold us properly and does uphold us properly before God. In 1 Samuel 2, 35, God's word came to the house of Eli, and the Lord challenged Eli for the sins of his sons. They were abusing the office of priest. They were acting very wickedly in terms of using their position of power in the land, and God challenged them. Hophni and Phinehas, he challenged them for the wickedness that was being left unchecked, and the Lord said that Eli's sons would die in one day, as they later did, God said, I will raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. Now primarily that seems to be fulfilled in Zadok, one of the priests that would be raised up to office, but certainly in Jesus Christ, God has raised up the perfect faithful priest, the one who does fulfill his office, who doesn't abuse it in the slightest, who doesn't use power in a corrupt manner. Here's a priest who is faithful, who can fulfill the office, who can represent us to God, who can convey the blessing of God to us. And as our priest, Christ makes reconciliation for the sins of his people. And that's at the In verse 17, in Hebrews 2, he makes reconciliation for the sins of the people. Really, that word reconciliation, it conveys the idea of atonement or propitiation. The word signifies making someone propitious or gracious by means of sacrifice. It's not just that by merely having a high priest, we are reconciled to God. It's that by having a high priest who makes sacrifice for our sins, that's how we're reconciled to God. The concept of sacrifice is built into the Greek word behind that. Christ is the great high priest who can help us as he offers sacrifice for us, in his case, the sacrifice of himself. He's not offering a bull or a goat. He's offering himself. And he's able to do this, to offer the sacrifice as our priest for us on our behalf. He can do this because he is our fellow man. He's been made like us, having taken our nature. So that just like Aaron was chosen from out of Israel to represent Israel, so too Christ is chosen from out of the ranks of mankind to be our representative. That's the thrust in verse 17. In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be this merciful and faithful high priest. He had to be made like us to take up the office of a priest. He had to be like us to represent us. He had to be both God and man, to be the mediator between God and men. We need a fellow man, and a perfect one at that, one who can stand for us in the courts of heaven, one who can plead the cause of his brethren. That's what we have in Christ. That's what we have in Christ. To take the last line of verse 18, he is able to succor them that are tempted. He's able to help the tempted ones. And here's one of the major reasons why he can help. We're a people who have faced temptation and will continue to face temptation and Let's face it, we have failed under temptation many times over. How many victories Satan has obtained over us? How many times we've brought ourselves down through folly? And yet here's a savior who can help sinners, who can help those who have even faced temptation and failed temptation, because as our fellow man, he's become our priest, and he offers sacrifice, even himself, to atone for the sins of his people. You know, the day when you feel your own sinfulness, when you, as a tempted one, know that you've failed the Lord miserably, and you're aware, you're feeling your unworthiness to stand before God, here's the one who can help, because he has genuinely, once and for all, dealt with your sin. Your high priest, your fellow man, has offered himself for you. That sin that weighs down your heart and makes you wonder, how could God ever accept me? Christ has dealt with it. In his name you can draw near to God. Just as Aaron represented sinful Israel and offered sacrifice and through his intercession to Israel could continue in the favor of God in a much greater way. You and I who are guilty and sinful, we're helped, genuinely helped because we have this priest and he stands for us. When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin. There's help for the tempted. As I look at him and the sacrifice that he has offered for me, here's one who can help the tempted. Here's one who can help the sinful. Then not only can Christ help as a perfect high priest, but to continue into verse 18, he can help as a sympathetic sufferer. A sympathetic sufferer. Verse 18 says, for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor, to help them that are tempted. We're attempted people, we need help, but here's one who's perfectly fitted to help us in our temptations. And he's fitted because he himself knows by experience what it is to face those temptations. he's faced similar things. Now, let me speak of that word for a second, temptations or the tempted, them that are tempted. Whenever we use the word tempted, we tend to automatically think specifically of the influence of the devil as he leads us into sin. And that's certainly involved here. The word can though convey the idea of simply being put to the test, being tried, you know, to make the point In John 6, verse 6, it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll put it this way, tempting Philip. Of course, he's not tempting Philip to sin. He's testing Philip. The translation there is proving, if I remember right, but it's the same word that's used. He's asking Philip where they can buy bread so that the 5,000 can eat. He's putting Philip to the test. It's used of Christ there. Christ is doing it there, but it's not temptation to evil. It's a proving. Similarly, it's the same word used in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, when we're encouraged to examine ourselves, test yourselves, tempt yourselves, if you like, although we wouldn't say it like that, conveys a different picture. Hebrews 11, 17 speaks of Abraham being tried, and it's the same word, and it's referring to the time when God put him to the test, when he had to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. In Greek, the word is quite a broad one, and it conveys both the concept of being tempted to do evil, but also the idea of just facing general trials. You could say, well, the trials of life, that's included here. Now, as to which is the main sense here, I don't think you actually have to pick, because in all of the regular trials of life, when circumstances don't turn out how you would like, or when there are enemies oppressing you, or when you're feeling your weakness. I mean, in all of those circumstances, there is the danger that we respond wrongly and sinfully. So there is moral temptation at work, even in the midst, and perhaps especially in the midst of some of those times of trial, there is the activity of Satan there to lead us astray. If you think of Job, Job was in a sense tested by God, who allowed his life to fall apart for a time. God allowed Job to be put through this immense trial Time of hardship and weakness and sickness and grief. At the very same time, though, Satan was active, tempting Job, the way we would think of that word, tempting him to respond to his trials with sin. The trials of life, they always tend to be times of temptation. Will I respond to this right or not? And of course, likewise, you could say a time of temptation by the devil. Well, there's another trial to be overcome in the power of the Lord. I highlight all of that because when we read here of Christ who has himself suffered being tempted, you could obviously think about the experience of Christ in the wilderness where Satan came to him and Satan began to actively tempt him into sin. But we should also include the whole scope of Christ's life, all the various trials, the weakness that he felt, the hunger pangs, the tiredness that would overcome him, even the Even the circumstances that would be frustrating to most of us when things didn't seem to go his way. These are the things that we face throughout life in this world. Things that stand as trials to you and me. And of course, we often struggle in the midst of these trials. Life hasn't turned out quite like we expected in some way, or some hardship has come up over here, and it's a trial. It's difficult, and well, we struggle. When we feel ourselves to be lacking in our daily needs, where we're so quickly tempted to grumble and complain against God, just like Israel did in the wilderness. Or else we try and take matters into our own hands and we neglect to seek the Lord. When circumstances don't go our way, we fall into despair so quickly, rather than by faith appreciating that it's all in the hand of God. We have a savior who's faced all of these various trials of life, and he's overcome them. tempted, he's been tried, he's suffered. As a fellow man, he knows all of our weakness and he's suffered all of these things that you face and more. The various burdens that would weigh down your heart today. Christ knows what that's like by experience. Even when it's not the exact same specific circumstance that you're facing. He has faced circumstances very much like it. He knows what you're facing. He's been there. And one of the key things being emphasized to us here is that the one who has been there, he knows how to help you and me when we are there, when we are in the midst of it. He knows the instinct of the human heart in difficulties. He knows what it's like to face all these things. And he is then able to succor, to help those that are tempted. He's able to come alongside you, He's able to give the perfect help when you're in the midst of trouble because He's been there, He knows what it's like. Of course He faced these things without sin, that's true, but it doesn't take away from the reality. He faced these real things, real pains, real struggles, real weakness, He faced it. So be glad in that, your Savior knows by even experience how to draw near to you and how to help you in your troubles. Are you in trouble today? Christ has been there. He's been there. He's faced the sickbed, undoubtedly. He knows what it is even to go through the valley of the shadow of death. He's faced death. He's faced betrayal. He's faced all sorts of troubles in his circumstances. He's faced it. He's been there. He's come through it. And he knows how to draw alongside you and help you today. And then of course, when you think about that word temptation, the way we often do, think of the active work of the devil. You know, we are a people often afflicted by Satan's activity. He comes to us, he urges us to turn from our God in all sorts of ways. We're called upon to stand against the wicked one, to oppose him, to resist him, that he might flee from us. Well, as we face the enemy of our soul, we're being reminded here that we have a savior who has also faced that foe. who knows what it is to be subjected to his activity. Think of Christ in the wilderness when Satan came to him, and that temptation, it was real, and it was significant. Christ had no sinful nature, and so with perfect faith in his Father, he was able to overcome the temptations of the devil, but those temptations were real, very real, just as real as when Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. All of Satan's subtlety, all of his craft was on display. The greatest efforts were made as he tempted Christ. It was real. It was a genuine battle being fought. And Christ has been there. We shouldn't just limit Satan's activity to the wilderness. Christ wasn't tempted by the devil just one little moment of his life. He was tempted at various points throughout his life. Sometimes Satan, with his subtlety, he even used Christ's disciples. Think of the time when Peter tried to rebuke Christ and put him off the idea of going to the cross. And Christ had to challenge Satan, who was using Peter's mouth, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense to me. Or even when you think of Christ upon the cross and the people are gathered around and they're mocking him and they're urging him to save himself. If God loves you, save yourself, come down from the cross. If you're God, if you're able for this, come down. And ultimately, Satan was behind all of that. The voice of Satan was heard there on the cross, urging Christ to turn from his father's will. Take matters into your own hands, don't trust the father. Take matters into your own hands, save yourself. And again, the temptation was real. That was the most horrific moment in Christ's existence. And Satan was using it as much as he could. And Christ knows what it is to do real battle with the wicked one. Now again, the comfort for us here is that when Satan comes to us and he tempts us and seeks to lead us astray, we've got a Savior who has been there in our shoes, who has personally faced all of Satan's strategies, and who knows then how to support, how to help his weak people in the midst of it. This is the reassurance for us today, that Christ has laid hold of man, of his people in particular, not angels, not just everyone, but he's laid hold of us. We who believe, we who are in him, he's laid hold of us. He's come to our help. And so he's taken up this position as our fellow man. He's been made like us. And as one like us, he has become our high priest. He's made intercession for us and he's offered the perfect sacrifice to put away our sin. And not only that, but in all his sufferings and trials, he's faced the things we face and more, he knows today how to draw alongside you. Here's a savior who can help. In the weakness of life, in the struggles of the day to day, here's one that we are genuinely invited to look to with gladness in our hearts. Here's one that we can rejoice in. There is help to be found in him. And when we come to him like that Canaanite woman, Lord, help me. Here's one who knows the help to give. He's been there. Here's one who's able to help. In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. So let us come to him and find the help that he is able to give. May the Lord bless his word to us tonight. Amen.