Grief for others.
I. THE RIGHT SPIRIT IN WHICH TO REGARD THE MISERIES OF OTHER MEN IS ONE OF GRIEF. A less worthy spirit is too common.
1. Self-congratulation. The evil condition of others is simply used as a dark background on which to throw out in relief our own superiority.
2. Indifference—the spirit of Cain, which cries, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
3. Vindictiveness. Jeremiah denounced the sins of Israel, and threatened punishment. Yet he regarded these sins with no Pharisaical sternness, and he could not contemplate the punishment of them with indignant satisfaction. Even if men are deserving punishment, that punishment is still pitiable. Sin inclines a good man to sorrow as much as to anger.
II. GRIEF FOR THE MISERIES OF OTHERS WILL BE INDUCED BY A TRUE APPRECIATION OF THOSE MISERIES IN A SPIRIT OF SYMPATHY.
1. A spirit of sympathy. Jeremiah felt the distresses of his nation as private sorrows. He was a true patriot. We must feel one with men before we can rightly regard their troubles.
2. A true appreciation of the miseries of men. Sympathy implies knowledge. We do not feel aright because we do not take the trouble to inquire into the condition of others. Much apparent hardheartedness arises simply from ignorance—but culpable ignorance. True sympathy will feel distress for the real evil of others, not only for their transient moods. It may need to weep over those who foolishly rejoice, and rejoice for those who weep wholesome tears of penitence.
III. GRIEF FOR THE MISERIES OF OTHERS MAY BE OUR BEST MEANS FOR HELPING THEM. Barren pity is a mockery when active aid is called for.
1. But genuine sympathy is the strongest motive to help.
2. We can intercede in prayer most effectually when we make the sorrows of others our own. Christ's sorrow for men was an important element in his intercession.
3. Sorrow for others may move them to view their condition in a true light. Tears may avail where warnings are lost. We have no greater motive to repentance than can be furnished by a right feeling of what Christ has suffered through our sin.
IV. GRIEF FOR THE MISERIES OF OTHERS IS NOT ALONE SUFFICIENT FOR THEIR DELIVERANCE. Jeremiah wept over his nation, yet the threatened desolation was not averted. Christ wept over Jerusalem, but Jerusalem was destroyed. Though God is "grieved" at our sin, we may fall into ruin. His grief is a strong inducement to repentance, but every man must repent and seek deliverance for himself.