_The Tempted_.
Did I say that sorrow was the commonest of all human experiences? Ought I
not to have said _temptation_? We all know the reality of temptation:
its biting wounds, its power to assail, to harass, to irritate, to worry;
its appeals to the senses, the animal in us; its assault of our
confidence; its liberty to terrorise and to torment.
Yes, every man is tempted. How shall he withstand temptation? What is it
in Jesus Christ that calls the sorely-tempted one to Him? Is it His divine
purity, His kingly holiness, His might as the supreme Sovereign whose law
is good? No; I think that only those who have learned to love Him will
love His law. Is it not rather the wonderful pity of Him of whom it is
written, "We have a great High Priest, . . . touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, . . . in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin"? _Touched with the feeling of our infirmities_. There is the
attraction of a supreme compassion for the tempted. There is the means by
which the King of Righteousness becomes also the Ruler over tempted and
sinful men.