The Lord be pleased to bless
his word as we meditate upon it this evening. Let us turn
to the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 2 and reading
verse 18. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter 2 and reading verse 18. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. So we are blessed indeed to have
such a suitable Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who passed
through this world, was tempted in all points like as we are
yet without sin. There is therefore nothing that
we can bring before the Lord that he does not understand. And it is surely a comfort and
a favour for us to be blessed with a right understanding And
we come to somebody who does understand. For in that he himself
has suffered being tempted. We do come into times of temptation. We may think, well, this is unique
to me. Surely no one else knows what
these temptations are. will be encouraged to know that
the Lord knows what those temptations are. And because of that, he
is able to succour them that are tempted. That means to help
or to aid those who are tempted. The Lord does help his people. The Lord does encourage his people. We may sometimes think that we
are left alone, but to realise we are not left
alone. The Lord is mindful of us, the Lord is gracious to us,
the Lord is leading us. We are his people in that narrow
way which leads to eternal life. And as it is a narrow way, it
will be perhaps almost constantly Temptations that may assail us. Temptations physically, temptations
spiritually. But the Lord understands all
these things. We read in the earlier verses,
verse 16, For verily he took not on him the nature of angels,
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. He came as a man. Wherefore, in all things it behoves
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. in all things it behoved him
to be made like unto his brethren." That's an amazing thought, isn't
it? The Lord God, the Lord Jesus Christ, that One in the Trinity, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ, willing to be like
unto his brethren. Indeed, it was necessary. If the Lord Jesus had not been
like his brethren, he would not have understood our situation. And we would not have had the
favour of realising that we have such a Saviour who does understand
our situation. We would have had a view of a
great God and a holy God who was so far above us, it was not
possible for us to ever reach up to such a God. But the Lord
Jesus Christ, He came down. He came down into this earth. He came down into this earth,
not only to suffer and to bleed and to die for His church, but
also that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people, and also that he
might be able to succour those that are tempted. Do we not then
have here a comprehensive statement of the compassion and the greatness
of God? that he was willing to come to
this world, into this earth, and to lead a life, a human life,
tempted in all points like as we are, so that he understands
our position and our situation. And for in that he himself hath
suffered. It's not just a theoretical consideration. It is true, the Lord Jesus Christ
has suffered being tempted and because of that he is able to
succor them that are tempted. We have here a glorious truth
really, one that should encourage us as we find ourselves tempted
on many fronts, perhaps in many ways and almost as it were continually
in our little life. We seem to be besieged sometimes
by temptations in one way and another. And then to read a verse
like this, and then to realise we're not alone. Our Saviour
understands about us. We don't have to go any further
than to come to our Lord and to pour out our heart unto Him,
because whatever temptation it is, He understands. He's been tempted in all points,
like us we are, yet without sin. We may sometimes sadly give in
to temptations. Our Lord never gave in to temptations. No, the Lord was blessed with
that ability, that will to resist the devil, although the devil
was, allows to tempt him. And if we consider such words
as this, I was tempted, I did suffer being tempted, and if
you think of our little lives, your life and my life, and if
you think of all the temptations that perhaps each one of us has
entered into, And all the temptations that every child of God throughout
the world has ever entered into, the Lord has also passed that
way. There is no temptation that has
come into our life that the Lord is not mindful of, because He
has experienced such a temptation. And so He understands us. Well,
what a blessing it is to have such a saviour who understands
our situation. And as we read that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest, the Lord is merciful
to us because he knows what temptations are. and therefore he is and
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest of things pertaining
to God. Now then, as we think of that,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is then that great high priest,
that merciful and faithful high priest, who as we come to our
God and pour our heart to our God as a blessing if we are able
to pour out our heart to our God in true prayer and contrition
and true desire to acknowledge our sin and our shortcomings
and the temptations that we are facing, to realise then the Lord
then presents our requests to his Father, to the Holy God,
in glory, and our prayers, which may sometimes seem to be very
feeble, perhaps sometimes seem to be very muddled, we don't
seem to really be able to describe our situation very well, to realise
the Lord presents those petitions to His Father, and the Father
sees His Son, and our petitions are accepted in the Beloved. Yes, that he might be a merciful
and faithful High Priest. Now, in this situation, therefore,
he is able to succour, he's able to help us, he's able to aid
us as we come to our God in prayer. As it were, the Lord comes alongside
us and we can, as it were, have a conversation with the Saviour,
explaining our poor and sad and sinful state, and realising that
He understands the place that we're in. For only our sinful
propensities in evil things, also the temptations not to believe
the truth of God's Word, and we know the Saviour had those
specific temptations, soon after he was baptised, when the devil
came and tempted him and offered him wonderful favours. And the Lord Jesus responded
by quoting scripture to the devil so that he was not able to answer
back. And as we come and pour out our
heart to our God, It may be the Lord comes alongside and gives
us then those answers. That we can come to the devil
and tell him, the Lord has said this and the Lord has said that.
And as the devil left the Lord Jesus, so sometimes the devil
will leave us. Not totally, but leave us as
it were for a time. And we shall be blessed with
that peace in our hearts because of the favour of the Lord Jesus,
drawing near and being merciful and a faithful high priest in
things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins
of the people. Because what is it that separates
between us and our God? It's our sins. That's what separates. And therefore there can be no
reconciliation between us and our God, were it not for that
which the Saviour has brought to pass through his death. The
blessedness of this wonderful reconciliation to mean that once
more we are one with God. We are accepted in the Beloved,
not for what we've done in and of ourselves, but accepted in
the Beloved. And the Lord Jesus, he succors
us. them that are tempted. It doesn't
say he suckers them who are not tempted. He says he is able to
sucker them that are tempted. We are tempted to believe the
devil sometimes. We are tempted to believe that
there is no hope for us. It may be we are tempted to believe
that we have sinned against light and knowledge and therefore our
only destination is hell at last. Well, I think then the Saviour
has been tempted in the same way. Because we are totally tempted
in all things, all things, not some things. We might find it
hard to believe and hard to understand, but we have such a Saviour, such
a great and glorious Saviour, who entered into this world to
save His people from their sins and to comfort them and to encourage
them. And so he does indeed succour
them that are tempted. We read together in the second
epistle of Paul to the Corinthians some similar words with regards
to the law of Jesus Christ and We read, for he saith, I have
heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation I
have succored thee. Behold now is the accepted time,
behold now is the day of salvation. We may be tempted sometimes to
think the day of salvation has passed us by. We may think perhaps
there's no hope for us. Well, here we have these words
which the Lord speaks. He says, I have heard thee in
a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored
thee. That means the Lord has helped
us. That means the Lord has come
to our aid. He has heard us in an accepted
time. He hasn't turned away from us.
He hasn't turned a deaf ear to us. My friends, God's ear is
open all day and all night. And so the Lord does hear. We
may sometimes think He doesn't hear. It may appear perhaps He
hasn't heard. But don't forget those words
which we often speak of The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man avoideth much." If you and I are blessed with that true
prayer, and that means that real cry from our heart, it doesn't
mean just going through a form of words. It means praying from
our heart. It means a cry. It means an urgency. It means a real desire. The Lord
be gracious to us and look upon us. So he says, I have heard
thee. I have heard thee. May we believe
that. The Lord has heard. In a time
accepted and in the day of salvation. While we are on this earth it
is still a day of salvation. So the Lord has heard our prayer. and in the Day of Salvation and
then he says, have I succoured thee. That means he's helped
us to pray to him in our time of need. That means he's come
to our aid as we have felt perhaps all out of sorts and not really
very able to present an orderly prayer We may not perhaps have
really understood what we really felt like and what we really
needed. Well, the Lord says he has succoured
us. I have succoured thee. He has
come to our aid and he has helped us. At the time perhaps we didn't
realise it, but now as we may look back, we realise the mercy
and the favour of our God coming to us in that way in our time
of need. And it was a time of need. We
were in a desperate situation. And he says, behold now is the
accepted time. Now is the accepted time. What
a favour to be one of those who come in this accepted time. The time the Lord looks upon
us. That is an accepted time, known to our God, and it is a
time which we are to observe. He says, behold, now is the day
of salvation. Perhaps that's been. I'm sure
it has to all of us. We are the children of God. A
concern about our soul state as to whether we are in that
day of salvation. as to whether we are amongst
those for whom Christ has died, whether we do know that we have
received that spiritual light, whether we are blessed with that
knowledge of spiritual life, and therefore to know that we
do possess this blessed salvation which is the saving of the soul. of salvation. What a blessing
it is for us then if we understand God's mercy toward us in hearing
us, accepting us, succoring us and enabling us to behold now
is the day of salvation. That day perhaps which we may
almost have cast away. I almost thought, well, there's
no hope for me. That day has passed me by. Be
encouraged, tonight we have a great saviour who does succour us. You see, I have succoured thee. He has helped us. And it's a
good thing if we can realise and recognise Yes, the Lord has
helped me. He has been my helper. I haven't despaired. I may have
come near to despairing, but I haven't despaired. It is because
the Lord, God Almighty, has helped us. And it's because the Lord,
God Almighty, understands all about us. And it is because The
Lord God Almighty has been tempted, like you and I, perhaps to consider
there's no hope and the day of salvation has passed for us. This is the great and glorious
Saviour that we are favoured with. What a favour it is then
to have such a Saviour, for in that He Himself has suffered
being tempted. He is able to succour them that
are tempted. It's necessary to realise that
this is very specific in that he himself has suffered being
tempted. It's not someone else. The Lord
Jesus stood in this very place He lived on this earth for those
33 years. There was, no doubt, many times
a temptation that we know nothing about, not recorded, but the
truth is, he was tempted. And so, may we think tonight,
this is a wonderful provision for an unworthy sinner. And as
the Spirit of God brings us to that place, which I believe he
does, so that we realise we are unworthy sinners. We don't deserve
any mercy. We don't deserve any favour.
We look at ourselves and we see sin all around us and sin within
us and we feel guilty and condemned and then to think that we have
a saviour who has walked this way and for in that he himself hath
suffered being tempted." What suffering it must have been for
the Saviour to have been tempted like this in His holy nature. We may understand a little of
it as we observe in our lives the difference between our old
nature and the new nature. The old nature loves sin. It always has done and it always
will do. What a sad reflection it is of
that original sin which is passed upon all mankind so that by nature
we love sin and we enjoy sin. But bless God if we have that
new nature, not that old nature, the new nature which hates sin. and desires to walk away from
it. Well, that's the battle, isn't
it? God's children understand the battle, the temptations,
the new nature which is holy and righteous and just, and the
old nature which is always battling against that new nature. It's a very blessed and positive
evidence in our spiritual life to know something of the conflict. The conflict between the new
nature and the old. If there's no conflict, if there's
no temptation, if there's no difficulty, then we have to doubt
whether there is any reality in our religion. The children
of God walk a life of temptation. They walk a life of opposition.
It's a battlefield. Therefore, that's why the Apostle
wrote to Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. It is a battle. We are soldiers. We are soldiers of the cross.
We are walking through life and are these continued temptations
that we are to battle against, we are to fight against, we are
to resist. Resist the devil and he may flee
from us. Now we cannot do that in and
of ourselves. We can do it through Christ. Christ who is our High Priest. Christ who is our Advocate. Christ
who is our Redeemer. What a blessing it is to have
such a great and glorious Saviour. who has fought the battle for
us. He's conquered. He's conquered
sin. He's conquered death and the
grave. And it is a mercy for us today to realise that this
God, this Saviour, who in that he himself has suffered being
tempted, is that one who has fought the fight. What a battle
it was. as we see the Saviour standing
in our place, fulfilling all that was required of the holy
law of God, to keep it and make it honourable. The law of God
is just, it is righteous, it is honourable. Our new nature
confirms that. Our old nature tends to go along
and try and sin. The Lord Jesus Christ lived that
perfect life. But what a battle He fought against
sin on our behalf. What a conflict that was. We
get a little view of it, don't we, in Gethsemane. A little view
of it on the cross of the cost of our salvation. As He endured
all the temptations that we are faced with and He bore our sin
in order to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Reconciliation
only through the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no mercy outside of Christ. There's no blessing outside of
Christ. All our favours, all our blessings
come through what Christ has done. For in that he himself
hath suffered being tempted." And what he faced and what he
endured in that great battle, what a battle it was, as he was
in great weakness upon that cross. And he cried out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? It was so that there might be
this reconciliation for the sins of the people. It was because
he had to die upon that cross, otherwise there was no reconciliation. There was no bringing back to
God. There was separation and that
was an eternal separation because God cannot look upon sin. God
is holy and righteous. So may we be blessed tonight
to think of these wonderful words that he is able to help us and
aid us as we are tempted, tempted to disbelieve the promises of
God tempted to turn away from God, tempted sometimes to give
up, He is able to succour them that are tempted. May we be encouraged
then to recognise the truth of these words, that here we have
a great and glorious Saviour, who knows the end from the beginning,
He knows what you and I are to endure, and it is those that
endure unto the end that shall be saved. But by comparison with
the Lord Jesus Christ, we endure very little, very little, as
we think that He endured all the curse, the curse of a righteous
God, to take away our sins. He endured it. And it was because
of that He reconciles us and to make reconciliation for the
sins of the people and he suffers. He himself has suffered being
tempted. We mustn't think that Christ
did not suffer. We may think sometimes that we
suffer. We may think we have to face
difficulties and it's a suffering for us. It's nothing compared
with the sufferings of Christ. Perhaps that's part of the reason
why the Apostle Paul, when he wrote to the Philippians, desired
that he might understand something better of these great and glorious
truths. And so he tells us He says he
counted all things but done for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus his Lord, for whom I have suffered all things,
and do count them but done that I may win Christ and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God, by faith that I might know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings be made conformable
unto his death." If there is really no fellowship with the
sufferings of Christ, then we don't really understand the value
of our salvation. So the Apostle comes like this. He knew the benefit of such an
experience. Something which was not for the
flesh, but that which is for the spirit. And as he was blessed
with this favour, he knew it would have a good and gracious
effect upon him. He desired then to be found in
him He goes on to say, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. He was always looking forward
to that eternal state. He realised he was passing rapidly
through life, and so are we. And as we pass rapidly through
this life, is Jesus precious to us? I believe he will be precious,
and he is precious, when we come to a right appreciation of what
he suffered to save our souls. What he endured, no tongue can
tell. We can't fully enter into what
Christ endured. And that's why surely the Apostle
desired this blessing. It was a blessing. He did pray
for it. He did desire it, but he might
be favoured in this way, and he says, not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend, or if I might understand, that
for which also I am apprehended or understood of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. There is that pressing forward,
there is that desire to walk this way, there is that desire
to know something of this fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We may be fearful, perhaps, to
pray for such a blessing as this. But the Lord knows how such a
blessing can be applied to us. And perhaps we may fear that
we'll come into some terrible, awful situation. Well, we may.
But on the other hand, we may not. The Lord knows how to deal
with us. The Lord knows how to bring us
into union with himself. Surely one of these greatest
favours of union is to understand and to appreciate and to be led
into the sufferings of Christ. Because that is when Christ becomes
precious. If we don't appreciate what Christ
suffered, then Christ will not be precious. He won't mean very
much to us. He may mean nothing to us. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
And therefore, whatever situation we find ourselves in, to realise,
if perhaps it involves suffering for his sake, it's suffering
for his sake, which makes all the difference, because we are
suffering, because we are blessed with life, spiritual life, and
we therefore desire to walk in that way in accordance with the
Word of God. We read together in that sixth
chapter, open with these words, we then as workers together with
God, with Him, beseech you also that you receive not the grace
of God in vain. And truly the grace of God, which
is the unmerited favour of God, is to lead us into this path
of suffering with the Saviour. Work us together with Him. We
won't understand really what it is to work together with Him. unless we appreciate something
of his sufferings, the sufferings which he endured to deliver our
souls from the wrath to come. And therefore, as we enter into
temptations, day by day, oppositions, to have that consolation, the
Lord realises, the Lord knows what we're facing, what we're
enduring, that were able to come to him then and truly pour out
our heart to our God and to seek that he will reveal himself to
us and draw us to him and show us, as it were, his hands and
his feet and his side, the cost of our salvation. And therefore,
it will make those temptations light by comparison, as we recognise
what the Saviour faced and what He endured. For in that He Himself
hath suffered, being tempted. He is able. What an able Saviour
we have to help us. And we know that He who has helped
us hitherto, will help us all our journey through and give
us daily cause to raise new Ebenezers to his praise, to think of that
every day as we may walk this way. This is fellowship with
Christ. My friends, we're traveling through
life. Where are we traveling to? I
hope we're traveling home to God. My friends, if we are to
travel home to God, we won't come to God, we won't come to
the Saviour, we won't arrive in glory and be a stranger to
the Lord Jesus Christ. No, we shall know something of
that temptation which He suffered and we shall therefore be blessed
with that privilege of that communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. because
it will draw us towards him, there will be a blessed attraction
as we think of what he's done in order to redeem our soul and
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, reconciliation
for our sins, the cost of our redemption, the enormous cost,
his death, his shed blood, it will be precious to us, it will
be a glorious consideration. So may we go on our way thinking
about this word. He is able to succour. He is
able to help us. He is able to aid us as we are
tempted and he will not leave us nor forsake us but he will
bring us at last safe home to glory as a shock of corn ready
ripe indeed made for the Master's use. Amen.