Isaiah 49 “But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.””

—Jesus in conversation with the Father over the price he would pay and the reward he would earn.

There are two directions to consider when ministering for the Lord. One direction is sympathy for the plight of the sinner. For the sufferings due to the disobedient. The other reason is the reward due to the Son. Which one moves you? The Son is moved by both. God delights in being a God of mercy. But the right of the Son to have a brotherhood of the first born is and was the original impetus for creation. It remains the driving force.

Pure sympathy opens us up to deception. It causes us to not be Christ focused. When we are not Christ focused, but “oh those poor souls” we entertain human sympathy which can lead to actions apart from the leading of God. This sympathy is human compassion and is mimicked by Satan to manipulate. Only a Christ first, Christ focused motivation steels us from engaging with our mission without him. His sympathy is pure and holy. We get the right sympathy from him, not from the fact of human suffering.

The end of the matter will be the reasons which began the matter. Christ deserves a bride. Christ deserves a brotherhood. Christ has paid for them. To deny his gospel denies his reward. To remain in the outer court of Christianity will likewise lead to suffering but it is not enough that we must avoid suffering, we must “come to him, as to a living stone” and be builded together into a “holy dwelling place in the Lord.” This alone can bring glory to God through the church and through Christ Jesus forever and ever.