I'm very thankful to be here
and spend time with my dad and Glenda and everyone here. We
don't get to come up as often as I'd like to. I'm very humbled
to be asked to speak again. And I do pray that the Lord would
bless his word to us this morning. Let's turn to Matthew chapter
nine. Matthew chapter 9, let's read
from verse 18 to the end of the chapter. While our Lord spake these things
unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler and worshiped
him saying, my daughter is even now dead. But come and lay thy
hand upon her and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed
him, and so did his disciples. And while our Lord was following
this certain ruler, behold, a woman which was diseased with an issue
of blood twelve years came behind him and touched the hem of his
garment. For she said within herself,
If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned
him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, Be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus
came into the ruler's house and saw the minstrels and the people
making a noise, he said unto them, Give place, for the maid
is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
But when the people were put forth, he went in and took her
by the hand and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad
into all that land. And when Jesus departed thence,
two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on us. And when He was come into the
house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus said unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. They said unto Him,
Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith, be it unto you. And their eyes were
opened. And Jesus straightly charged
them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they
were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
As they went out, behold, they brought unto him a dumb man possessed
with a devil. And when the devil was cast out,
The dumb man spake, and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never
so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth
out devils through the prince of devils. And Jesus went about
all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness
and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes. He was moved with compassion
on them. Because they fainted. And were
scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then say if he unto
his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers
are few. Pray you, therefore, the Lord
of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Our text is verse 36 and. It says in verse 36, when he
saw the multitudes. He was moved. With compassion. Our subject today is the God
of compassion. Compassion means. To feel. That's what the concordance is.
The compassion, the word compassion means to feel. It means to be
moved. With sympathy. And pity. That comes from inward affection. And tender mercy. In other words, it means love. Love. Compassion means to feel. It means to be moved with sympathy
and pity that comes from inward affection and tender mercy. Our Lord spent all of the time
that He was on this earth either going to or receiving every single
person. that came to him asking, will
you help me? Every single person. There was
not one person that he turned away. Not one person. And I'm talking about people
who were unlovely. Unkind. Unworthy. Most of the time, unthankful.
I'm talking about sinners. Real centers. In Luke 15, chapter
two, the Pharisees said, this man received the centers, the
kind of people that you look at that person and say, not him. That's actual center. I thought about the fact that
with all the technology we have today, with the telescopes and
the satellites that we have. We can clearly see that space
is a very big place, outer space. We can see outer space. I believe
we've only seen a little speck of what the Lord is creating.
But inside what we can see, if you've ever looked at it, the
earth is such a tiny little insignificant dot inside all that we can actually
see. And when the Lord looked down
from heaven on this little insignificant dot in all that he created. And he saw there was none that
did good. The imagination of their heart
was only evil continually. They were all as filthy rags. Why didn't he just get rid of
that? And make a new earth and put
new life on it. He could have easily done that.
All he would have had to do is think it. If he would have thought
it, it would have been done. He didn't think it because it
wasn't done. Why didn't he think that? He
never thought it. Compassion. His ways are not
like our ways. His bride was on that earth. He's the true and faithful Man. Faithful man, he said, I'll never
leave you and I'll never forsake you. I want us to look at a few of
the places where our Lord's recorded some of his compassion for us
to say, let's turn to Mark chapter one. Mark chapter 1 verse 40 says, And there came a leper
to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto
him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. This leper said, Lord, I know
what I am. He got down low. Lord, I know
what I am. I see that in me there is no
good flesh. From my head to my feet, I'm
nothing but rot and decay. I'm altogether unlovely. And
if you will, if you would have the heart to.
If you're moved to, you can make them clean. Verse 41 says, And Jesus moved with compassion. Our Lord wrote this book. He
used men to pen it. But these are the words that
our Lord chose. These are the words that our
Lord purposed to write. And if we can take him at his
word. It says right here when this
leper approached him, he was moved. It says he laid his hand on that
man's rotten flesh. That means our Lord was no more
than an arm's length away. He looked him straight in the
eye. And that leper was looking straight back into the face of
God. And he heard him say, Yes, I will. I most certainly will be thou
clean. Verse 42 says, And as soon as
he had spoken, Immediately, the leprosy departed from him and
that man was clean. Compassion is of the heart. Compassion comes from the heart. God has a heart. That's what
Brother Henry said recently. It struck me when he said it,
he said, God has a heart. God does have a heart. He said,
David is a man after my own heart. That's saying, I love David. I do. Is David a sinner? Sure, David's a sinner. Does
God love him? Yes, he does. He said in Abraham, that's my
friend right there. Abraham was called a friend of
God. Our God has a heart. We worship the true and living
God. A God that feels. Feels. Pity. As a father pitieth his
children. Our God feels pity and compassion
toward others. Aren't we so glad? So glad. This is the gospel. The gospel
means good news. Our God has a heart. Our God has a heart and he feels
pity and compassion towards others. Let's look at another place.
Turn to Luke chapter 7. Luke Chapter 7 verse 11 says
that it came to pass the day after. That he went into a city
called Nain. And many of the disciples went
with him and much people. Now when he came not to the gate
of the city. Behold, there was a dead man
carried out. The only son of his mother And
she was a widow. And much people of the city was
with her. And when the Lord saw her. This is our Lord we're talking
about. This is God we're talking about.
Had he already seen her? Absolutely. Had he seen her from
the foundation of the world? Absolutely. Did he know everything about
her and her dead son and her already dead husband? Absolutely.
But the word of God says right here. The Lord walked into this
town and when he saw her. When my daughter Isabella was
born, as soon as I saw her, I loved her. My heart was with her. That's my child. I remember telling
someone in Rocky Mount, I love her so much. She was a newborn
infant. I love her so much. I want to
protect her so much. I don't even want her to fall
down. And this fellow whose kids are grown, he said, well, it's
going to happen. She's going to fall down. I said,
I know. She wasn't even walking yet.
I said, I know. I already knew she was going to fall down. Before
she was even born, I knew she was going to fall down. But when
Isabella started trying to walk, the first time that I saw my
baby fall, I was moved. Verse 13 says, And when the Lord
saw her hurting, this woman is broken. Her only son is being
carried out in a coffin. Her only son. She feels alone. She's grieving alone because
her husband's already dead. Scripture says, when the Lord
saw her, He had compassion on her. That means it moved Him
to feel sympathy and pity and inward affection toward that
woman. He walked straight up to that
woman and He said, don't cry. Verse 13, the end of it says,
weep not. Don't cry. I have the power to
heal your pain. Verse 14 says, and he came and
touched the buyer, that means the coffin. And they that bear
him stood still. And our Lord said, young man.
I say unto thee, arise, and he that was dead sat up and began
to speak, and our Lord delivered him to his mother. And there
came a fear on all. And they glorified God, saying
that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath
visited His people. Psalm 119 verse 156 says, Great,
and that means many, are thy tender mercies. Thy tender mercies are new every
morning. Scripture says everything that
happens to us is mercy. Everything. Our punishment is
mercy. Our chastening is mercy. Our
trials are mercy. It's all mercy. But how precious
are his tender mercies? His inward affection and his
tender mercy to us. Well, let's see if we can learn
from him. Let's look at verse chapter,
I'm sorry, Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Verse 25 says, and behold, a
certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? And he said unto him, what is
written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering
said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy
neighbor as thyself. And the Lord said unto him, Thou
hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live.
But he willing to justify himself said unto Jesus, And who is my
neighbor? And Jesus answering said, A certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. and fell among thieves
which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down
a certain priest that way, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he
was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the
other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he
was, And when he saw him, he had compassion on him and went
to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set
him on his own beast and brought him to an end and took care of
him. And on the morrow, when he departed,
he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto
him, take care of him. And whatsoever thou spendest
more when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these
three thinkest thou was neighbor unto him that fell among the
thieves? And he said he that showed mercy on him. Then said
Jesus unto him. Go and do thou likewise. God is active. He's very active. Salvation is
of the Lord. Our God is an active God. The
whole time that he was on this planet, he was working. He was helping. He was healing
the whole time. And what does Malachi 3, 6 say? I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not concerned. I'm always helping. I'm always
healing. That's why you sons of Jacob
are not concerned. You know, we know of a few believers
here and a few believers there. In each of our assemblies, And
every now and then, our Lord graciously allows one of his
saints to come home. Every now and then. But have
you ever thought about the fact that every time an infant dies?
And I meant to look this up on the computer and I forgot to.
But every time that a baby dies. Our God is welcoming a new soul
into glory. I've looked at it a long time
ago in this country alone. It's like every 13 seconds or
something, much less the world. Our God is active. Very active. He tells us all through this
book, as I've done for you, that's what I want you to do for each
other. So he says, give if we have extra money, give. If we
have extra food, Invite somebody over. Our Lord said go and do
not in order to be saved. But because we have been saved.
Let's have compassion because we've been shown compassion. Our Lord has always referred
to his relationship with his people as a family relationship.
His people are called the bride of Christ. His people are called
the children of God. In studying this, it really hit
home to me that compassion, our compassion, should start in our
own homes. I started thinking, who can I
go out and find to give compassion to? And then I thought, I have
a wife in my own home that I want to be more compassionate to. The Lord told us husbands love
our wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself
for it. I pray that the Lord would let
me grow in that. I want to have more compassion
towards my children. I pray that compassion would
grow in our house. I pray the same thing for your
house. Let's all pray, Lord, would You
let compassion grow in Your church? Lord, would You give us a conscious
effort to think Compassion. Compassion, let it grow amongst
brethren. Give us all a heart to go and
do for each other. Not so we can be saved. But because
we have been saved. Scripture says may the mind of
the Lord Jesus Christ be in us all. Lord, as you've had compassion
on us, as you've loved us, given yourself for us, May we, in turn,
have the same love and compassion for each other. For who are we? We can snap that fast, can't
we? Who are we? Without the love
and compassion of God, who are we? That's what struck me about
this subject in the first place. I'm almost finished. Go back
to Matthew chapter 9 again. Verse 36 says, When he saw the
multitudes. The multitudes. Our Lord had
compassion on the multitudes. Not just one every now and then.
The multitudes. All people. God's people. His adopted children
come from the multitudes. They're no different than anybody
else. He doesn't go around and say, well, there's a special
one. They come from the multitudes. They're no different than anyone
else in and of themselves. What make it thee to differ?
It's only the love and grace of God. It's only his compassion
that makes a difference. John 1 John Chapter 4. Says. First John chapter four, verse
10 says here in his love. Not that we love God. But that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another. No man had seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth
in us. And his love is perfected in
us. Hereby know we. That we dwell
in him and he in us, because he hath given us of his spirit. And we have seen and do testify
that the father sent the son to be the savior of the world.
Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the son of God, God
dwelleth in him. And he and God. And we have known
and believe The love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God and God in him. Verse 8 says, he that loveth
not knoweth not God. For God is love. Romans 5, 8 says, God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners. Christ died
for us. Here's an illustration of compassion. There's an oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico. And I've seen pictures of these birds, maybe they're
seagulls, I don't know what they are, I can't tell. And they've
been completely covered in oil. Have you seen these pictures?
Just completely covered in oil. I guess they landed on the beach
and they got their foot stuck in the tar. And the next thing
you know, a wave comes and it covers them in more tar. And
then wave after wave comes and they get covered and covered
until all you can see is a beak and two eyes sticking out of
this pile of tar. When you see that, especially
for an animal lover like my wife, it moves you with compassion. It makes you feel pity to see
something that has so great a need of help. You need me. You're stuck. It makes you actually
want to. It makes you wish you could go
to that beach and scoop up that little bird
out of that filth and say, oh, look at you. Look at what you've
done. Let me get this stuff off of
you. I'm gonna make you clean. And then I'm gonna set you free. And don't come back and get in
this mess right here. Stay away from that. Well, herein
is love. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, who were down in the
pit, Stuck in the miry clay. A filthy rotten stench in the
nostrils of God. Vile offenders who were dead
in trespasses and sins. Covered from head to toe with
putrefying sores. There was nothing lovely about
us. There was no redeeming quality
in us. But when he looked on us, He was moved with compassion.
And he reached way down. Scooped us up and said, oh, look
at you. Let me get this mess off of you. Look what you've done. I'm going
to make you clean. And then I'm going to set you
free. Romans 9, 15, and 16 says, For
he saith unto Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
As if to say, I will have mercy on sinners if I want to have
mercy on sinners. And nobody can stop me. I am so glad that our God is
true. I'm so glad that he's faithful
and true as we read these things, everything he's told us is true. It's all true. He cannot lie. I'm so glad that our God is alive.
He's the true and living God, the God that actually has a heart,
the only one. And I'm so glad that our God
is compassionate. His heart is moved toward his
people in love and tender mercy. Let's close with Lamentations,
chapter three. Lamentations, chapter three.
In my Bible, it's page 1027. Old Testament. Lamentation three, and let's
start with verse 17, thou has removed my soul far off from
peace. I forget prosperity, that word
means good, I forgot good. And I said my strength and my
hope. Is perished from the Lord. Remembering
my affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My
soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind. Therefore, have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. Brother Joe Terrell recently
said, this is why a sinner can have hope A sinner who says,
I acknowledge I have sinned. A sinner who knows I am a sinner.
I have sinned against God. Wait a minute. I have rebelled
against God. That is talking about me. This
is why a sinner can have hope. I'm still here. I haven't been
consumed yet. I should have been. Why can I have this hope? Verse
22 goes on to say, because his compassions fail not. They're new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore, will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that
seeketh him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord, the
God of compassion. May the Lord bless his word.