Sympathy is especially a Christian’s duty. Consider what the
Christian is, and you will say that if every other man were selfish,
he should be disinterested; if there were nowhere else a heart which
had sympathy for the needy, there should be one found in every Christian
breast. The Christian is a “king:” it becometh not a king to be meanly
caring for himself. Was Alexander ever more royal than when, while his
troops were suffering from thirst, he put aside a bowl full of the
precious liquid, which a soldier offered him, and said it was not
fitting for a king to drink while his subjects were thirsty; he had
rather share their sorrow with them? O ye, whom God has made kings and princes, reign royally over your own selfishness, and act with the
honorable liberality which becomes the seed royal of the universe. You
are sent into the world to be saviours of others; but how shall you be
so if you care only for yourselves? It is yours to be lights; and doth
not a light consume itself while it scatters its rays into the thick
darkness? Is it not your office and privilege to have it said of you, as
of your Master–“He saved others, himself he cannot save?”
“ Endure Hardness. ”
Soldier of Christ, thou wilt have to do hard battle. There is no bed of
down for thee; there is no riding to heaven in a chariot: the rough way
must be trodden; mountains must be climbed; rivers must be forded;
dragons must be fought; giants must be slain; difficulties must be
overcome; and great trials must be borne. It is not a smooth road to
heaven; those who have gone but a very few paces therein, have found it
to be rough and rugged. Yet it is pleasant; it is the most delightful
journey in all the world; not because it is easy in itself, it is only
pleasant because of the company; because of the sweet promises on which
we lean; because of our Beloved who walks with us through all the rough
and thorny brakes of this vast wilderness. Christian soldiers, expect
conflict: “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to
try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” As truly as
thou art a child of God, thy Saviour hath left thee for His legacy–“In
the world ye shall have tribulation.” Yet remember that this
“tribulation” is the way to “ enter the kingdom ;” therefore “endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”