Our Compassionate High Priest

                              April 3rd, 1890
                                    by
                              C. H. SPURGEON

    "Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out 
   of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity."--
                                Hebrews 5:2

The high priest looked Godward, and therefore he had need to be holy; 
for he had to deal with things pertaining to God. But at the same time 
he looked manward; it was for men that he was ordained, that, through 
him, they might deal with God; and therefore he had need to be 
tender. It was necessary that he should be one who could have 
sympathy with men; else, even if he could succeed Godward, he would 
fail to be a link between God and man, from want of tenderness and 
sympathy with those whom he sought to bring nigh to Jehovah.

Hence, the high priest was taken from among men that he might be 
their fellow, and have a fellow-feeling with them. No angel entered 
into the holy place; no angel wore the white garments; no angel put on 
the ephod and the breastplate with the precious stones. It was a man 
ordained of God, who for his brothers pleaded in the presence of the 
Skekinah. Many of us, I trust, have a desire within out hearts to come 
to God; but we need a High Priest. Inasmuch as it is his right, he 
counts it not robbery to be equal with God; but he communes with the 
Father as one that was by him, as one brought up with him, who was 
daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. But we ought also to be 
very grateful that we can come into touch with our High Priest on his 
human side, and rejoice that he is truly man. For thus saith the Lord, 
"I have laid help upon One that is mighty: I have exalted One chosen 
out of the people;" he is anointed, it is true, with the oil of gladness 
above his fellows, but still he and they are one, "for which cause he is 
not ashamed to call them brethren."

Those who came to the high priest of old, were not often of the rough 
sort. Those who wished to have fellowship with God through the high 
priest in the tabernacle, or in the temple, were generally the timid ones 
of the people. Remember how she who came when Eli was high priest 
was "a woman of sorrowful spirit"; and the high priest had to deal 
with many such. The sons and daughters of affliction were those who 
mostly sought the divine oracle, and desired to have communion with 
God; hence the high priest needed not only to be a man, but a man of 
tender and gentle spirit. It was necessary that he should be one with 
whom those with broken hearts, and those who were groaning under a 
sense of sin, would like to speak. They would dread an austere man, 
and would, probably, in many cases, have kept away from him 
altogether. Now, the mercy for us is, that our great High Priest is 
willing to receive the sinful and the suffering, the tried and the 
tempted; he delights in those that are as bruised reeds and smoking 
flax; for thus he is able to display the sacred qualifications. He "can 
have compassion." It is his nature to sympathize with the aching heart; 
but he cannot be compassionate to those who have no suffering, and no 
need. The heart of compassion seeks misery, looks for sorrow, and is 
drawn towards despondency; for there it can exercise its gracious 
mission to the full.

Often, when we are trying to do good to others, we get more good 
ourselves. When I was here one day this week, seeing friends who 
came to join the church there came among the rest a very diffident 
tender-hearted woman, who said many sweet things to me about her 
Lord, though she did not think that they were any good, I know. She 
was afraid that I should not have patience with her and her poor talk; 
but she said one thing which I specially remember: "I have to-day put 
four things together, from which I had derived a great deal of 
comfort," she told me. "And what are they, my sister?" I asked. 
"Well," she said, " they are those four classes--'the unthankful and the 
evil, the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way,' Jesus 'is kind 
unto the unthankful and to the evil', and he 'can have compassion on 
the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way,' and I think that I 
can get in through those four descriptions. Though I am great sinner, I 
believe that he will be kind to me, and have compassion upon me." I 
stored that up; for I thought that one of these days I might want it 
myself; I tell it to you, for if you do not want it now, you may need it 
one of these days; you may yet have to think that you have been 
unthankful and evil, ignorant and out of the way, and it will give you 
comfort to remember that our Lord Jesus is kind to the unthankful and 
to the evil, and that he "can have compassion on the ignorant, and on 
them that are out of the way."

On this latter subject, I would speak at this time, wishing to comfort 
some who are of a sorrowful spirit, and others who may yet have need 
of such consolation as this topic gives.

Notice in our text, first, the sort of sinners with whom our High Priest 
is concerned, namely, "the ignorant and them that are out of the way"; 
secondly, the sort of High Priest with whom sinners have to deal--One 
"who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out 
of the way"; and thirdly, the sort of infirmities in men that may be 
sanctified to great uses. "For that he himself also is compassed with 
infirmity," is said of an earthly high priest; this it was that made him 
fit to be a high priest; and there are certain infirmities that we might 
almost glory in, for they enable us to be like priests unto God, and 
make us helpful to his sorrowing and suffering children.

I. First, then, let us carefully observe THE SORT OF SINNERS FOR 
WHOM OUR HIGH PRIEST IS CONCERNED. While it is true that 
he is willing to receive all sorts of sinners, there are many who never 
come to him, nor submit to his authority. With those who proudly and 
rashly stand before God on their own merit, he has nothing to do; but 
with others of a different character he is greatly concerned.

The people who claim Christ's aim are generally those who have a 
very low opinion of themselves. Out of all the tribes of Israel, those 
that came to the high priest, to ask him to present their sacrifice to 
God for them, and to speak a word from God to them, were God-
fearing people. No doubt hypocrites, occasionally, did come, and some 
of a proud spirit who trusted in their own offerings; but I should think 
that, all the year round, the high priest saw some of the humblest and 
best people in all Israel. Men and women, in sore trouble, would come 
to him; and these chastened spirits would be choice spirits. Men and 
women who were conscious of sin, and longing for pardon, would 
come to the high priest; men and women who had not sinned after the 
similitude of a public transgression, who nevertheless felt evil 
darkening their conscience within, would draw near to him; men and 
women who had lost the light of God's countenance, and who came 
longing to have it back again, because they could not live without it, 
would approach the courts of God's house. All these would be welcome 
visitors at the high priest's door, and would receive his sympathy and 
compassion. Such are the people whom Christ our great High Priest 
now delights to bless. The proud and self-satisfied cannot know his 
love; but the poor and distressed may ever find in him comfort and joy, 
because of his nature, and by means of his intercession.

As with the high priest of Israel in the olden time, amongst those who 
come to our High Priest, are many whose fear and distress arise from 
ignorance. Oh, dear friends, if all the ignorant were to come, we 
should all come; for we are all ignorant; but there are some who fancy 
that it is otherwise with them. They imagine they know all things, and, 
professing themselves to be wise, they become fools. They know not 
their need of the great High Priest. Their folly is proved by their light 
esteem of him. But among those who come to our great High Priest in 
heaven, there are none but those who are ignorant.

In the first place, there is a universal ignorance. Notwithstanding all 
that great men may say about what they evolve from their own 
consciousness, I think that the only thing that a man can evolve from 
his own consciousness is folly and sin; for there is nothing else there. 
If he goes on evolving, he will evolve greater folly and greater sin, that 
is all. But when the Lord deals with men, he makes them feel that they 
know very little. What do we know of sin? The larger proportion of 
our sins are probably unknown to us. We do them, and scarcely 
observe that we have committed them. And who knows the evil that 
lies in any one sin? We is he that can weigh his iniquities in scales, or 
his errors in balances? Upon that one dread subject of sin, we are all 
life babes; we have not begun to learn more than the alphabet of that 
awful knowledge. Sinful we are, but it is part of the effect of sin that 
we do not know the extent of our sinfulness, and we should not know 
it at all, if it were not for the teachings of the Holy Spirit.

Again, what do we know of ourselves? Does any man truly know 
himself? "The proper study of mankind is man," says Pope. I am not 
sure of that; but I am certain that the proper study of mankind is 
Christ; for in him we not only can learn about man, but much more 
besides. But how little we know of ourselves, of our natural weakness, 
of our evil tendencies, of our proneness in this direction, or in that! 
"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults."

What do we know of God the unsearchable? Is he past finding out? 
Who can sufficiently tell of his nature, or of his wondrous attributes? 
Who can speak adequately of his greatness, or of his glory? Who can 
number up his years, or declare the whole of his lovingkindness? "O 
the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 
How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" 
On this great subject as well as on the other topics I have mentioned, 
there is a universal ignorance. As compared with the light of God, we 
are in the dim twilight. He that seeth best only seeth men as trees 
walking.

But, in addition to the ignorance that is universal, there is also a 
comparative ignorance on the part of some; and because of this, the 
compassion of Christ flows forth to them. Those who are ignorant in 
this way, are the kind of sinners whom he has come to help as a High 
Priest. He puts them in a class by themselves.

There are, first, the recent converts--young people whose years are 
few, and who probably think that they know more than they do; but 
who, if they are wise, will recognize that, even by reason of the 
fewness of their years, their senses have not been fully exercised to 
discern between good and evil. You must not ask them questions about 
the deep things of God. They have to be satisfied with those blessed 
parts of Scripture where a lamb may wade; they must not meddle with 
those parts where leviathan has to swim. Many truths are either above 
them or below them, much experience is too deep for them. In the 
presence of many of God's ways, they are compelled to say, "Such 
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." 
The Lord Jesus Christ can take little boys and girls to his bosom; and 
he does so, while they are as yet ignorant of many things. He loves 
them; he teaches them; he has compassion on them; and he says of 
them, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: 
for such is the kingdom of God." Christ receives them in spite of their 
lack of knowledge, and therefore we must treat such very tenderly. 
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones;" for our great 
High Priest has compassion upon their ignorance, and he instructs 
them. "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be 
the peace of thy children," when they trust in him who sympathizes 
with them, and who cares for them.

Others there are who are ignorant because of their little opportunity of 
getting instruction. Are there not many who are so placed that they 
have little chance of ever learning to read? We are thankful that there 
will be few left of that sort by-and-by. But there are others who, if they 
could read, have scarcely sufficient time allowed them to read their 
Bibles, and who, when they have read them, are very like the 
Ethiopian eunuch, in that they do not comprehend what they have 
read. If the question were addressed to them, "Understandst thou what 
thou readest?" they could truly say, "How can I, except some man 
should guide me?" There are many, all over our land, who are situated 
in places where they cannot often hear the gospel, and when they do 
hear it, it is so mixed up and confused, that it is small wonder they 
cannot make head or tail of it. Constantly do we meet with persons of 
that kind, whose ignorance is excusable; for they have had no 
teaching. They have not had opportunities of reading and searching, as 
most of us have had; upon these our great High Priest has compassion, 
and often with their slight knowledge they show more of the fruits of 
the Spirit than some of us produce even with our more abundant light.

Further than that, there are many that are of a very feeble mind. You 
can only with difficulty get a thought into their brain, and if you try to 
get another idea on the top of it, the second one seems to knock the 
first one out. They never learn much, and they are so constructed that 
they never will. In our pilgrim band we have a number who are like 
Mr. Feeblemind; we may try all that we can with him, but we shall 
never make a hero of him. Others are like Mr. Ready-to-halt, with his 
crutches; he did dance once, you will remember, when Giant Despair's 
head was cut off; but still he had to go on his crutches even then, and 
he never gave them up till he crossed the river; then he left them to 
anybody who wanted such things, and, I fear me, there are many who 
want them to-day. We have those in our company who never will be 
able to give a systematic statement of the doctrines of grace, though 
they are full of grace. They could never explain how they were saved; 
but they are saved. I daresay the snail could never explain how he got 
into the ark, but he did get in; and these feeble ones are in Christ, 
though they cannot fully explain how they came to that blessed 
position. Some of these good people are not very apt to receive 
knowledge: they are not "learnable", if I may coin a word to express 
my meaning We cannot make them learn. They are willing to be 
taught, they are teachable; but they are not "learnable." Ah, well, our 
blessed High Priest can have compassion on the ignorant, and the 
feeble-minded!

Beside the universal ignorance of which we have spoken, and this 
comparative ignorance, there is a sinful ignorance. We have some 
whoa re ignorant, and no excuse is to be made for them; their 
ignorance is to be condemned; and if these words reach any who are 
thus guilty, I would beseech them to pray God to pardon their guilt, 
and cease to sin in this way any longer. I mean those who are ignorant 
for want of attention. They are so full of business, and have such a 
great many other things to think of, that they do not value the means 
of grace. They say that they cannot attend, but we know that where 
there is a will there is a way. Perhaps they go once on a Sunday and 
never more all the week. Now, if I had to eat one meal a week, and 
only one, I should want it to be a very good one; but I think that I 
should hardly be in a good condition for the next one the week 
following. It is a grand thing to get a little bit by the way, by coming 
on a Thursday night, or a morsel or two on a Monday, at the prayer-
meeting. This stays the heart, and keeps the soul in good order.

Some will never be much above the ignorant, because they have not 
the ambition to learn. They do not set themselves to study the things of 
God. They do not sufficiently prize the revelation of God. I pray that 
they may be stirred up to do so. Though they have been guilty of 
neglectfulness and forgetfulness, they are not to be deprived of the 
sweetness of this text. Our Lord can have compassion on the ignorant, 
and on such as are out of the way. Here stands the great company to 
which his compassion goes out, and its name is written, "The 
ignorant." I think that we had better all get into this class; indeed, I 
am sure that we had better join it, and thus obtain our Lord's 
compassion. I have seen, at a railway-station, gentlemen with first-
class tickets walking up and down the platform unable to find a first-
class carriage, and if the train was going on they have jumped in the 
third-class, so as to get to the journey's end. If there is a man here who 
does not think that he ought to be put down quite among the ignorant, 
jump in, brother, because you will get to your journey's end in this 
compartment, and there is no carriage, just now, for any wise person. 
There is nothing provided in the train that starts from this text, except 
that which is provided for the ignorant. The Lord hath us personally to 
rejoice that he can have compassion on the ignorant!

Now comes another description of the sort of sinners for whom our 
High Priest is concerned. There are many whose fears arise from being 
out of the way. The Lord "can have compassion on the ignorant, and 
on them that are out of the way." I remember that, when I felt myself 
to be a very great sinner, and verily thought I was more of a inner than 
anybody else, these words were very, very much blessed to me. I read 
them, "and on them that are out of the way"; and I knew that I was an 
out-of-the-way sinner. I was then, and I am afraid that I am now, 
somewhat like a lot out of the catalogue, an odd person who must go 
by himself. Very well; our High Priest can have compassion on those 
that are odd, on those that are out-of-the-way, on those who do not 
seem to be in the common run of people, and do not go with the 
multitude, but who must be dealt with individually, and by themselves. 
He can have compassion upon such.

But now let us look at the more exact meaning of the text.

To be out of the way is, in the case of all men, their natural state. "All 
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own 
way." That is where we are all by nature, and our own way is out of 
the way. Therefore, Christ can have compassion upon all of us who 
come to him; for he has learnt to deal with those who are out of the 
way, and such, literally, are we all.

In addition to that, men have gone out of the way by their own 
personal folly. We had enough original sin; but we have added to that 
another kind of originality in evil.

                        "Like sheep we went astray,
                         And broke the fold of God
                    Each wandering in a different way;
                        But all the downward road."

But there are some who wander most foolishly. You wonder why they 
sin in the particular way that they do. There seems to be no reason for 
it, no motive for it, no special temptation in that direction, and yet, 
they will do it. They wander out of the way by themselves. Have you 
done so, dear friend? The Lord can have compassion on those that are 
out of the way.

Some are out of the way because of their seduction from the way by 
others. False teachers have taught them, and they have taken up with 
the error brought before them by a stronger mind than their own. In 
some cases persons of evil life have had a fascination over them. It is 
wonderful how, in the cases of young men and young women, they 
frequently seem to be not themselves, but the evil embodiment of 
another. They are ruled and governed by the will of somebody else, 
and not by their own. Thus they are led out of the way. They are like 
sheep that "have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Ah, poor 
friend, it is ill that you should have been the victim of another's 
temptation! Do not blame your tempter; blame yourself; but, at the 
same time, remember that Christ has compassion upon those who have 
been led out of the way. As by the will of another you were beguiled 
from the true path, so by the love of Another shall you be won back 
again, even as it has been with many of us.

Many are out of the way because of their backsliding after grace has 
come to them. Or text comprehends backsliders who were once in the 
way. To such we may say, "Ye did run well, who did hinder you, that 
ye should not obey the truth?" Something has been an occasion of 
stumbling to such; and now, though sitting in the house of God, they 
know they are not what they once were, nor what they ought now to 
be, nor what they must be, nor what I hope they will be, even before I 
shall finish my discourse. "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the 
Lord; for I am married unto you." Why will ye wander from the only 
source of good? "Take with you words and turn to the Lord." "Come 
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like 
crimson, they shall be as wool." The Lord calls you in infinite 
tenderness; for he can have compassion upon backsliders, and stop 
them from becoming apostates, bringing them back unto himself, 
according to his divine purpose.

Others are out of the way because of their consciousness of special sin. 
Is there here anyone conscious of some great sin in years gone by? Is 
there a crimson spot upon your hand, which you have tried to wash 
out, but cannot; some act of your life which you would fain undo, and 
remove? There it is, still there, always there. Does it fret you by night, 
and weary you by day, to think of the gross iniquity of yours? Ah, it 
has put you out of the way! Perhaps you did not grasp all the 
consequences of what you were doing when you did it. Be comforted 
by this gracious text. Hear your High Priest pray, "Father, forgive 
them; for they know not what they do." He pleads your ignorance. You 
"did it ignorantly in unbelief"; and while this does not excuse you, it 
puts you into the list of those who are both ignorant and out of the 
way. Come to this compassionate High Priest, and trust your case in 
his dear hands; they were pieced because of your sin. Trust your 
iniquity with him; his heart was opened and set abroach because of 
your transgression. Come, trust in him. He died because of your sin. 
"He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, 
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."

Thus I have very feebly set forth the sort of sinners for whom Christ is 
High Priest; those who are ignorant, and those who are out of the way. 
This message is for almost everybody here, except my friend over there 
who knows everything, and never did anything wrong. He does not 
want any Christ, and I will not bother him with one. "They that are 
whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick," saith the 
Lord Jesus; and he further adds this word, which shuts out you who 
never did any harm, "I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to 
repentance." To be so very learned, and so very good in your own 
estimation is no recommendation to Christ, but the reverse. He comes 
to men who need compassion, and those he teaches to profit, and leads 
in the way everlasting.

II. Having seen the sort of sinners with whom our High Priest is 
concerned, let us in the second place, look at THE SORT OF HIGH 
PRIEST WITH WHOM SINNERS HAVE TO DEAL.

Now, if I go back to the high priest under the law, the type would be a 
fine fatherly man, whose very face invited confidence. I should think 
that all the people were glad when the high priest was very tender and 
compassionate. Possibly that had occasionally a high priest who was 
very high and very mighty; one who was very glad when the day's 
service was over. If sinners wanted to see him, he was not visible; and 
when he did talk to them, he was not very gentle. Sometimes he may 
have said to them, "Now you are stupid, you talk nonsense;" and when 
any of them were very sad, he said, "You ought to know better than to 
indulge this foolish nervousness of yours." I think that they were not 
sorry when that high priest was taken from them. But the pattern high 
priest was a fatherly-looking man, with love in his eyes, a smile on his 
face, one who had often sorrowed himself, one to whom all the people 
could go naturally. There are such men still alive. They are like a 
harbour for ships. Sometime sit brings a very heavy burden upon them, 
but they are happy men to have such a burden to carry. I think that 
some of those high priests must have seen a great deal of sin, and a 
great deal of mercy and divine love. When the poor people went up to 
the temple, one would say, "I must go in and see the high priest. I have 
such a burden and he will be able to help me." Another would say, 
"No, I shall not go in; I do not need to take up his time myself. Did not 
you hear him speak? What, what he said was just the very thing that I 
wanted. God gave him the very word that my distress required, and so 
I can go in peace." But here and there one would say, "Ah! I must tell 
him. It does me good to unburden my heart." Now that is the kind of 
high priest that we should all have wished for had we been living in 
those days; but our Lord Jesus is something incomparably better than 
that.

He is One who can bear with ignorance, forgetfulness, and 
provocation. How do I know it? Because he bore so wonderfully with 
the ignorance of people when he was here. It was with a very tender 
accent that he said to one of his disciples, "Have I been so long time 
with you, and hast thou not known me, Philip?" He had told them 
many, many times the same thing over again, and yet he was not 
above repeating it, he had such compassion on them. Sometimes, he 
could not say what he would have liked to say, and yet he bore with 
the poor men who did not know the burden he had on his heart: he 
only said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear 
them now." And when, after he had taught them, they still forgot, he 
did not chide them. I never find that he turned one of them away 
because of their stupidity; he did not even cast off Thomas for his 
unbelief. He let them still linger about his person, despite their false 
notions and their forgetfulness. They must often have grieved him 
through their ignorance, and through getting out of the way, especially 
when they got into the way of each desiring to be the greatest. But 
notwithstanding all, our Lord was never like Moses. Of him it is 
written that the people of Israel "provoked his spirit, so that he spake 
unadvisedly with his lips."; but never an impatient word came from 
those lips into which grace was so abundantly poured. There was never 
such a meek, and gentle, and quiet spirit as our divine Lord and 
Master possessed. I need not dwell on that, for you all know what 
compassion he had upon the ignorant sons of men.

Again, he is One who can feel for grief, because he has felt the same. 
When I have explained compassion as implying meekness of 
disposition, I have not given you the full meaning of the expression. 
Not only has our Lord compassion on the ignorant by being gentle 
towards them, but he sympathizes with them by having a fellow-
feeling with them. They got out of the way, and into the thorns; they 
wandered, and fell into a maze; they were lost in the dark mountains, 
but he was "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief." "In all their 
afflictions he was afflicted." Because of that fellow-feeling he is always 
very tender and pitiful; and if he finds any of his children sorrowing, 
he has abundant compassion upon them.

Moreover, He is One who lays himself out tenderly to help such as 
come to him. He did so when he was here in body, and he is the same 
now; all his life was given in tenderness. You never find Christ 
throwing bread and meat to the hungry crowd as we throw bones to the 
dogs. He has made them sit down on the green grass, and then he 
blessed the food, and gave it to his disciples, and they distributed it in 
a quiet, orderly way. And the Lord Jesus Christ has a very loving way 
now of helping his people. So tenderly does he do it, that the doing of 
it is almost as great a wonder as the thing that is done. He abounds 
towards us in all wisdom and prudence, and we may each one say, 
"Thy gentleness hath made me great." Oh, he is a wonderful Saviour! 
There is none like him for sympathizing with us, and dealing tenderly 
with us.

Another thing I have to say of him that never can be said of anybody 
else is, that he is One who never repelled a single person. Not even the 
most ignorant, the most out of the way, was ever turned back from 
him. It was always true: "This man receiveth sinners." And for ever 
this word is settled in heaven, "Him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out."

I have not time to go into this matter fully, but all who have read the 
life of Christ know what a gentle and tender High Priest he was 
towards men.

                   "Now, though he reigns exalted high,
                        His love is still as great.
                         Well he remembers Calvary
                        Nor let his saints forget."

His heart is on earth, though he has ascended into the heavens. If 
anyone here groans after him, he will hear that groan; and if the wish 
does not come to a vocal sound at all, but if your heart only aches after 
him, he will feel that ache of your heart, and know what it means; and 
if you do not know how to pray, the very desire to pray he will 
interpret. He can have compassion on the ignorant. And if you do not 
know what you want, but only know that it is something that you must 
have or die, he will give it to you; for he will interpret your wordless 
desires, and what you cannot read yourself, he will read for you. But, 
oh, you must have him; you must have him, you cannot get to God 
without him! I pray that you will feel such confidence in his 
tenderness that you may come and take him as your own High Priest; 
if you do, he will be yours at the moment of acceptance. He will never 
refuse the seeker. He will not hide himself from his own flesh. He will 
never be distant and strange to any penitent sinner. If thou desirest 
him, it is because he desirest thee; and if thou hast a spark of wish for 
him, he has a furnace of desire for thee. Come, and welcome. He can 
have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way. 
God bless these words! I pray that he may do so, to very many.

III. Now, I want to speak to those of you who are the people of God. I 
can imagine that some of you here are troubled, perhaps ill, and that 
you cannot get on as you would like in the world. You seem 
compassed with infirmities. I want to remind you that there may be a 
blessing even in your weakness; and that this may be the more clearly 
seen we will look, in the third place, at the SORT OF INFIRMITY 
WHICH MAY BE SANCTIFIED AND MADE USEFUL.

The high priest of old was compassed with infirmities, and this was 
part of his qualification. "Yes," says one, "but he was compassed with 
sinful infirmities; but our Lord Jesus had no sin." That is quite true, 
but please remember that this does not make Christ less tender, but 
more so. Anything that is sinful hardens; and inasmuch as he was 
without sin, he was without the hardening influence that sin would 
bring to bear upon a man. He was all the more tender when compassed 
with infirmities, because sin was excluded from the list. We will not, 
then, reckon sin in any form as an infirmity likely to be turned to a 
great use, even though the grace of God abounds over the sin; but, 
beloved friends, let me try and speak to some of you who wish to do 
good, and set forth some of the things which were sore to bear at the 
times, and yet have been rich in blessing since.

First think of our struggles in finding mercy. Years ago you had a hard 
time of it when you were seeking the Saviour. I had, and I have always 
been very glad of it ever since. It was a long while before I could 
perceive the eternal light, and cast myself on Christ. I thank God that 
it was so because I have had to deal with hundreds--I might say 
thousands--in a similar case; and if I had found Christ, as many dear 
friends do, very readily and very easily, I could not have guided them; 
but now I can sit down by the side of them and say, "What! Have you 
got into the dark? I have been in the dark, too. You are down in the 
lowest dungeon, are you? Well, I was in the lowest dungeon of all. I 
can show you the way to where the jug of water stands, and the bit of 
brown bread. I know the way, for I have been there." If you have not 
had a certain experience, you cannot so well help others who have; but 
if you were compassed with infirmity in your first coming to Christ, 
you may use that in helping others to come to him.

Again, our grievous temptations may be infirmities which shall be 
largely used in our service. "What a blessing it would be to live 
without temptations!" says one. I do not believe it would be a blessing 
at all. I think that, being without temptation is more of a temptation 
than having a temptation. There is no devil that is equal to no devil, 
for when there seems to be none, we get so very quiet and so very easy, 
and think that everything is going on well, when it is not. Be glad if 
you have been tempted. Remember that temptation is one of the best 
books in the minister's library. To be tried, to be afflicted, to be 
downcast, to be tested--all this helps you to deal with others. You 
cannot be unto others a helper unless you have been compassed with 
infirmities. Therefore accept the temptations which trouble you so 
much, as a part of your salvation to make you useful to others.

Our sickness may turn out to be in the same category. Of course we 
would like to be always well. I think that health is the greatest blessing 
that God ever sends us, except sickness, which is far better. I would 
give anything to be perfectly healthy; but if I had to go over my time 
again, I could not get on without those sick beds and those bitter pains, 
and those weary, sleepless nights. Oh, the blessedness that comes to us 
through smarting, if we are ministers and helpers of others, and 
teachers of the people! I do not say that too much of it is to be 
despised, but the Lord knows how much is too much, and he will 
never afflict us beyond that which he will enable us to bear. But just a 
touch of sickness now and then may help you mightily. I have heard 
some brethren preach the gospel, but it had been as hard as a Brazil 
nut; little children could never get at the kernel. These brethren had 
never had any trouble or affliction; and if you have never had any, you 
may try to be very tender, but it will be like an elephant picking up a 
pin; you may try to be patient and sympathetic, but you will not be able 
to manage it. Glory in your infirmities, then, and in your sicknesses, 
for they shall be made useful in you for the comfort of God's sick 
people.

Our trials, too, may thus be sanctified. He that has had no troubles, 
and no trials, what mistakes he makes! He is like the French lady in 
the time of famine, who said that she had no patience with the poor 
people starving because of the price of bread. You can always buy a 
penny bun for a penny, she said; and therefore she thought there need 
not be any poverty at all. She was one of the rich ones of the earth. I 
do not suppose that she had ever had a penny bun in her life, or a 
penny either. Ah, dear friends! You must, if you are ready to help 
others, be yourself compassed with infirmity.

Our depressions may also tend to our fruitfulness. A heart bowed 
down with despair is a dreadful thing. "A wounded spirit who can 
bear?" But if you have never had such an experience, my dear brother, 
you will not be worth a pin as a preacher. You cannot help others who 
are depressed unless you have been down in the depths yourself. You 
cannot lift others out of despondency and depression, unless you 
yourself have sometimes need to be lifted out of such experiences. You 
must be compassed with this infirmity, too, at times, in order to have 
compassion on those in a similar case.

Herein I think that every one of us should try to make use of all his 
weaknesses. Our whole nature as feeble men may be turned to the 
noblest use if it calls forth our compassion towards others. Thanks God 
that you are not a man of iron. We has the Iron Duke once, who did 
famous things, but in a different fight from ours. An iron preacher 
would need to have iron hearers; and then, I am afraid, that there 
would come a crash before long. No, no; we must have our weaknesses 
and infirmity consecrated to God, and laid at his feet. Let us go, in all 
our weakness and infirmity, and try to help others who are as ignorant 
and as out of the way as we once were; and, God blessing us, when we 
are weak, we shall be strong. When we are less than nothing, the all-
sufficiency of God will be all the more manifested. Here I must stop, 
for our time has gone. May the Lord bless the word, both to the sinner 
and to the saint, for his name's sake! Amen.

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